THE number of long term unemployed people can be reduced from 130,000 to 20,000 within six years, says Fianna Fail in a new policy document entitled Pathways to Work.
It was launched yesterday, shortly after the Government released the report of its own Task Force on Long Term Unemployment and there is some overlap between the two. The ultimate source of both reports was the National Economic and Social Forum, which was set up by the Fianna Fail Labour administration.
However, Fianna Fail places more emphasis on the role of the Local Employment Service (LES) in combating long term unemployment. It places the main onus for helping the long term unemployed to find suitable private sector jobs on the LES, which it says should receive a budget of £30 million a year rather than the £6 million start up allocation being made by the Government this year.
Many of its other proposals appear to be based on the more ambitious, and costly, options looked at and rejected by the task force. It proposes the creation of 4,000 full time jobs in the community, statutory and voluntary sectors and 10,000 State sponsored temporary jobs, lasting three years.
In contrast, the task force only proposes creating 1,000 full time jobs, on a trial basis for three years.
Pathways to Work has a much broader remit than the task force and also addresses issues such as reducing PRSI rates for both employers and employees, especially in low paid sectors. Travel allowances currently provided to participants in Community Employment and other schemes should be extended to all long term unemployed people taking up jobs.
Increases in VTOS (second chance education) places, short term job placements for newly redundant workers in vulnerable sectors like clothing, and a special aid package for tourism are among measures Fianna Fail says will help to reduce the numbers on the dole by nearly 20,000.
Launching the plan, the Fianna Fail deputy leader, Ms Mary O'Rourke, said that there was "a measure of agreement" with the Government parties, but that Fianna Fail had taken a more imaginative approach. Defending the possible cost implications, Ms O'Rourke said she had come to believe that "social cohesion must precede economic cohesion, not the other way around".
The party's spokesman on enterprise and employment, Mr Charlie McCreevy, claimed that the proposals would be self financing. This was based on economic growth continuing at an annual rate of at least 3-4 per cent.