Pay and conditions for some jobs are simply too poor to attract people off the Live Register, according to the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs.
People are entitled to reasonable wages and reasonable conditions, Mr Ahern declared yesterday at the announcement of his Department's expanded "Back to Education" programme.
"There is a duty not only on the State to get people off the Live Register and into jobs, but it is vital for all sectors to play their part in enticing people into the labour force," he said.
Employers came out from time to time saying they had jobs they could not fill, but "on the other hand we find some evidence for the proposition that the wages offered in certain industries are not that enticing to people," he said.
Anyone who walked into a job would expect a reasonable level of wages and conditions, he added.
A Government commission is looking at the issue, he said, and is expected to report in March.
Mr Ahern also said lack of skills was preventing some people from applying for jobs. His Department was encouraging people to return to education to tackle this. Just under 5,000 people on social welfare are taking part in the "Back to Education" programme, he said.
His announcement of an expansion of the programme received a cold welcome from the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed. Unless it was backed up with independent advice centres in disadvantaged areas and highquality local employment services, the programme "will have amounted to nothing other than a PR stunt", it said.