On November 5th, 2024, the Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphries TD, published the Third Annual Progress Report for the Government’s national employment services strategy Pathways to Work 2021-2025.
In the Chairperson’s Introduction, John Martin Chair of the Labour Market Advisory Council noted that “Despite the positive labour market developments, challenges remain. The international environment facing a small open economy like Ireland is volatile and the short-term outlook for some of our major export markets (e.g. Europe) is not very buoyant. Ireland is also experiencing labour and skills shortages in a range of sectors, especially critical sectors such as housing and health. This is not unique to Ireland – it is happening across member states in the EU, and across the OECD. And yet, despite these shortages, some groups continue to face difficulties or discrimination in accessing the labour market. Unlocking this potential labour reserve and assisting these individuals in transitioning into quality employment is central to creating a better performing and more inclusive labour market that benefits all members of society, in line with Ireland’s commitments under SDG 8 and the European Pillar of Social Rights.”
In Section 2, Key Performance Indicators and Milestones Achieved, the report notes that “The Mid-Term Review process and development of the updated Pathways to Work strategy provided an opportunity to review and adjust Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure that they remain effective and fit for purpose over the remaining lifetime of the strategy (end-2025). This is particularly important given the significant improvement in labour market conditions since the strategy was launched.” (p29)
The report goes on to state that “In total, the updated Pathways to Work strategy has 28 Key Performance Indicators. Table 1 sets out these KPI’s – input, output, and outcome measures – and reports on their progress. In terms of the traffic-light monitoring system used in the report- Red, Amber, or Green (RAG) status for each KPI:
- 19 are “green” where good progress is being made in delivering the target on schedule,
- 9 are “amber” where there is a risk that targets will not be met within the given timeline.”
Amongst the KPI that are amber are:
- KPI 10 which sets to “Engage with all Jobseeker’s Transition payment customers moving from One Parent Family Payment.”
- Revised KPI 20 with a focus on “inflows into long-term unemployment to not exceed 16% of inflows into unemployment 12 months previously, on average.”
- New KPI 24 which seeks to “Increase employment rate for Travellers by 50%, from 18% (Census 2022) to 27% by Census 2027.”
In the Concluding Remarks, the Labour Market Advisory Council state that “The Council emphasises that there needs to be an absolute focus on increasing the participation rate of under-represented groups. It is evident that there is a great deal of activity underway by the Intreo Employment Services and the Intreo Partners, and a range of improvements can be seen in the provision of employment supports and in the further education and training sector. The employment rate target for lone parents is currently not on track to be achieved, the employment rate for people with disabilities remains significantly lower than the population as a whole, and it is not known what progress has been made, if any, in raising the extremely low employment rate for Travellers. Given the current performance of the labour market, with record levels of employment, and shortages being experienced in a range of sectors, it is crucial that this opportunity to increase participation in the labour market is seized.” (p112-113)