The INOU welcomes some of the new measures in the 2025 Programme for Government published this week. Approaches such as continuing with a new Employment Strategy and targeted supports for marginalised groups such as the long-term unemployed and disabled people are welcomed; however, moves in the social protection system and the removal of initiatives to improve social inclusion are a major loss to an Irish society that should be working towards eliminating poverty and promoting equality of outcomes.
At a time where Ireland’s wealth accumulation is ever-increasing, families and marginalised people with additional barriers to employment should be prioritised, with sustainable investment in social protection and in public employment services, and in preventing discrimination based on socio-economic status in our equality laws.
We are extremely disappointed to see the removal of actions to include socio-economic status as a ground in equality law from this Programme for Government. People from disadvantaged backgrounds with a higher risk of poverty are often discriminated against in society based on where they are from, their clothing, their accent, or their income. The INOU sees this impact every day in the people who contact our information service, knowing they cannot find employment because of how they are perceived in job interviews. This law change would break a cycle of poverty for many people who cannot access employment; we will continue to work with the Add the 10th Alliance and our Oireachtas representatives to highlight this as a priority in our legislation.
The INOU are very pleased to see the increased support seen for initiatives such as funding social enterprise nationally, increasing resources for successful employment supports such as the Community Employment scheme and the EmployAbility programme, and aiming to address anomalies in social protection for part-time workers, an issue the INOU has been raising in our policy work. The INOU will continue to promote the importance of strong social dialogue in these initiatives.
The INOU would caution against the continued Government approach to separate working age payments (e.g. Jobseekers Payment) from other core social welfare payments, as seen in this document. Working age payments, alongside the rest of the social protection system, are essential to the prevention of deprivation in Irish society and the risk reduction of societal problems such as childhood poverty and homelessness. Working age payments must be supported and benchmarked alongside other social protection measures to ensure everyone can achieve a minimum essential standard of living.
We look forward to engaging with Departmental and Government colleagues in the creation of the successor strategy to “Pathways to Work”; the national context for employment will continue to change at a rapid rate, and we will continue to emphasise the requirement for the state to remain flexible and proactive in addressing challenges in the labour market and in strengthening our social protection system. We will continue to advocate for a supportive system with access to lifelong education and guidance, and investment in community organisations so we can ensure decent employment is available for all.