Minister Kevin Humphreys TD Minister of State for Employment, Community and Social Supports
GETTING IRELAND BACK TO WORK We are the Party of work and my principal promise in 2011, like all my colleagues, was to tackle the crisis where hundreds of thousands of people had lost their means. Since we entered Government we have focused unrelentingly on tackling this crisis. From the peak of unemployment in 2012, the rate has fallen from 15.1% to 10.6%, and over 100,000 people are now back at work since then. Working with the Tánaiste in the Department of Social Protection my job is to help those out of work back into a job or self-employment. We are spending €1.1 billion this year in employment supports to help people and communities across Ireland get back into work and provide local services.
■ I doubled the number of JobsPlus places to 6,000 with €12 Minister Kevin Humphreys launching www.gettingbacktowork.ie at million extra funding. Travelling across the country, I have met Rathmines Citizen Information Office with employees and employers who have benefited from the JobsPlus scheme and I’ve heard first-hand how it gives those who are out of work for a long time, a chance to get back into employment with 2/3rds of those bhaving been unemployed for over 2 years. ■ We committed €22 million for new Back to Work Family Dividend. This helps those with young families to bridge the cost gap of getting back to work by retaining hteir qualified child increases. ■ Delivered funding of €373 million available for 25,500 Community Employment places. I have been able to protect and expand the funding for Community Employment by nearly €16 million which support over 1,000 projects in 2015. ■ Secured an extra €10 million for Back to Work Enterprise Allowance to support those setting up their own business. My Department is supporting over 10,000 people into self-employment.
YOUR LOCAL INTREO OFFICE Under Pathways to Work, our strategy to tackle unemployment, my Department has transformed what we all knew as the ‘Dole office’ into a one stop shop where income and employment supports are integrated in one place. We are moving from being a passive benefits provider to an active and engaged employment service. Your local Intreo Centres also provide a wide range of services for employers, assisting them find recruits. We have already done this in 46 offices and I am responsible for driving forward the delivery of a further 17 offices this year.
Minister Kevin Humphreys visiting Waterford Intreo Centre with Ciara Conway TD
Tánaiste Joan Burton, Minister Kevin Humphreys and Chair of Tesco Ireland Tony Keohane launching the Employers Charter, calling on companies to interview 50% of candidates from the Live Register
MY NATIONAL TOUR SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES Since being appointed Minister for Employment, Community and Social Support in July I have made it my business to visit as many projects, offices and schemes across Ireland. There is fantastic work being done on Community Employment schemes, Tús, the Rural Social Scheme, Community Services Programme and Gateway. We are investing millions into these projects that are helping people get back to work and supporting vital services. Labour pioneered Community Employment and I am proud of how we have helped thousands of people get a second chance working and training at the heart of their community. I have been able to protect and ringfence that budget. Last year I also launched a 3 year community employment based childcare programme for participants with a budget of €29 million and 2,200 dedicated places. €15 million is also committed to Drug Rehabilitation Schemes with over 1,000 places available.
Minister Kevin Humphreys visiting the Rural Social Scheme in Skibbereen Heritage Centre with Michael McCarthy TD
This year will also see the roll-out of a new Health and Social Care programme for Community Employment so that participants have adequate qualifications to take-up employment opportunities in this area and to support local service delivery. Meeting with the Tralee Chamber of Commerce Community Employment Scheme with Arthur Spring TD and Minister Kevin Humphreys
THE GENDER RECOGNITION BILL In recent weeks I have been taking the progressive Gender Recognition Bill through the Oireachtas, a law that has been needed for a long time. It is my intention to ensure the enactment of the Bill early in 2015 so that members of the transgender community are able to avail of the opportunity to have their preferred gender formally recognised as soon as possible. Once the Bill becomes law, a person who is issued with a gender recognition certificate: Minister Kevin Humphreys with Senator Mary Moran engaging with young jobseekers in Dundalk
■ will be officially legally recognised by the State as being of the preferred gender from that day forward; ■ will be recognised in the preferred gender for all purposes, including dealings with the State, public bodies, and civil and commercial society; ■ will be entitled to marry a person of the opposite gender or enter a civil partnership with a person of the same gender; and ■ will be entitled, where relevant, to a new birth certificate that shows the preferred gender and new names (if names are also changed).
Visiting Tuam Men’s Shed with Senator Lorraine Higgins
Kevin Humphreys TD Minister for Employment, Community and Social Support
The arrangements provided for in this Bill have at their core a genuine commitment to enabling transgender persons to be recognised for all purposes in their preferred gender. Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 Phone: 01 618 3224 Email: kevin.humphreys@oir.ie