JOB PROSPECTS for early school-leavers have substantially worsened over the past three years.

In the first quarter of 2010, 29 per cent of early school-leavers aged 18-24 were in employment, compared with 56 per cent in the first quarter of 2007, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Meanwhile, 30 per cent of early school-leavers aged 18-24 were unemployed in the first quarter of this year.

Among people who had completed second-level education or above, the rate was 13 per cent.

Three years ago, when the Irish jobs market was in full swing, the rate of unemployment for early school-leavers in this age group was 16 per cent.

The rate of decline in the employment rate of early school-leavers was greater than it was for people who had completed second-level or above. As a result, the gap in the employment rates between the two groups has widened.

“During the boom years many young people who left school early were able to find work. But without significant investment in their further education, most of them are facing a future of long-term unemployment,” said Bríd O’Brien, head of policy at the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU).

The INOU criticised Government proposals to further penalise young people for not availing of training opportunities.

“The INOU strongly believes that this is not the way to proceed. What is urgently needed is an integrated jobs strategy that employment, social and related services are capable of steering unemployed people through so that they have a real prospect of a decent job in the future.”

The CSO included new details of the labour market status of early school-leavers compared with that of people of other levels of educational attainment. It said the information was of interest to the Department of Education.