Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Ireland (Ratification: 1967)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Employment policy measures. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the application of Article 2 of the Convention, including on the manner in which employment policy measures are decided on and kept under review within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it continues to tackle unemployment through its twin key strategies: the Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) and Pathways to Work. The APJ complements Pathways to Work, which targets the unemployed and young people, to assist them in accessing the labour market. Through these twin strategies, the Government aims to see 2.1 million people in employment by 2018. Following the 2014 Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development (OECD) review of the APJ process, a performance assessment framework was introduced to link actions more clearly to the Government’s high level strategic goals. The APJ is published each year and builds on progress made in previous plans. The Committee notes that the main objectives of the current APJ, launched in February 2017, are, by 2020: to increase the number of people at work by 200,000; to add up to 45,000 new jobs; and to reduce the unemployment rate to 6 per cent. Between June 2015 and January 2016, eight Regional APJs were published, which seek to increase employment by a further 10 to 15 per cent in each region by 2020 as well as to ensure that the unemployment rate in these regions is within one per cent of the state average. Key targets of the regional APJs include increasing the number of entrepreneurs/start-ups in each region by at least 25 per cent, improving their five year survival rate and increasing FDI investment into each region by 30–40 per cent. The Government’s second key strategy, Pathways to Work 2016–20, adopted in January 2016, sets out actions to support access to the labour market for long-term unemployed and young unemployed people. The Government adds that the strategy seeks to reverse the dramatic rise in the numbers of unemployed jobseekers on the Live Register. Pathways to Work 2012–15 has played a key role in increasing the number of people in work, which will shortly exceed two million, and that the number of unemployed during 2012–15 fell by about 38 per cent, with the overall rate of unemployment having fallen to 8.8 per cent in this period. Moreover, according to the APJ 2017 report, the number of young unemployed declined from 61,700 in December 2012 to 29,400 in December 2016. Recognizing that experience from other recoveries has shown that job creation alone is not sufficient to generate full employment, Pathways to Work 2016–20, developed through extensive consultation with stakeholders and front-line workers engaged in delivering employment services, reflects a shift from “activation in a time of recession” to “activation in a time of recovery and growth”. The Committee refers to its comments under the Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88), in which it noted that based on six strands of action, the strategy focuses on enhancing employment, education and training services for jobseekers; reforms aimed at making work pay; and increasing engagement with employers to provide employment opportunities. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the impact of the employment measures taken under the twin key strategies: Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work 2016–20. It also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the procedures for deciding on and reviewing employment measures implemented within the framework of an overall economic and social policy.

Education and training policies and programmes. The Committee notes the Government’s indication concerning the adoption of the first Action Plan for Education 2016–19 in September 2016, which aims to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe by 2026. It envisages the consultation with stakeholders in the monitoring and designing of each annual programme. The Committee notes that in the context of significant reform in the education and training sector, the Government launched the National Skills Strategy 2025, which seeks to support the development of a well-educated, well-skilled and adaptable labour force, and the Further Education and Training Strategy 2014–19, which facilitates lifelong learning, social inclusion and access to education and training opportunities. These strategies include among its key priorities addressing the challenge of unemployment and providing targeted skills programmes that support job seekers to reskill and upskill, particularly in areas where sustainable employment opportunities are emerging. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the Action Plan for Education, the National Skills Strategy 2025, and the Further Education and Training Strategy 2014–19. It also requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the social partners and other stakeholders concerned are consulted with respect to the development of education and training programmes that meet the needs of the labour market.

Article 3. Consultations with the social partners. The Government indicates that the development, implementation and review of the APJ and the Pathways to Work strategies are based on extensive consultation with interested parties, including the workers’ and employers’ organizations Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (IBEC), respectively, as well as those unemployed. The Committee notes with interest the establishment of the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF), as a new formal structure for dialogue between social partners to discuss economic and social policies that affect employment and the workplace. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the activities of the LEEF with respect to the development, implementation and review of coordinated employment policy measures and programmes and their links to other economic and social policies.