The number of people in Galway who are long-term unemployed has risen and more needs to be done to provide jobs for people in this situation.
This is the view of Labour Galway West TD Derek Nolan, who has described the situation as “worrying”.
According to figures released to Dep Nolan, the number of long-term unemployed in County Galway has risen from 3,500 in 2011 to almost 5,000 in 2012. This is despite the unemployment rate dropping from 15.1 per cent to 13.6 per cent.
“Long-term unemployment can have a serious impact on people and can leave a deeper mark than many may think,” he said. “As well as the obvious loss in income, those long-term without jobs can lose confidence in themselves and their work.”
Dep Nolan said that the new Pathways To Work 2013 policy must seek to “prevent and tackle” long-term unemployment.
“We need to see a number of tangible initiatives such as a greater number of places on training schemes; more incentives for recruiters and a reduction in welfare traps to make the return to work easier,” he said. “Importantly, key performance indicators have been designed for this strategy meaning that concrete targets have been identified and must be met
