The rate of employment growth will slow this year but overall employment will rise by 55,000, according to FAS. The State training agency's action plan for 1999 also says that skill shortages will continue to hamper growth across a wide range of sectors.
It plans to increase significantly training programmes in critical sectors such as electronics and construction and is reserving 20 per cent of training places for the long-term unemployed. It will also use the community employment programme to fund 25 childcare projects this year to help improve facilities for working parents.
The director general of FAS, Mr John Lynch, predicts that the average rate of unemployment this year will be well under 7 per cent and that long-term unemployment will continue to fall. "Despite these rapid declines, there will still be over 200,000 people on the live register this year," he says.
In most danger of remaining unemployed are school-leavers without qualifications and older people on the live register. School-leavers account for 29 per cent of the young unemployed and people over 35 account for two-thirds of the long-term unemployed.
Mr Lynch says the Government employment action plan, which targets the under-25s, has reduced the numbers of young people on the live register. Fifty-one per cent of those referred to a FAS action plan had signed off, 22 per cent had obtained jobs through FAS and 19 per cent entered training or education courses.
FAS expects to begin calling in long-term unemployed people aged 25 to 34 shortly after Easter. There are more than 61,000 people in this age bracket, compared with fewer than 42,000 in the under-25s. It is likely to prove much more difficult to cater for the needs of the 25-34-year-olds.
In an effort to meet skill shortages in the high-tech area, FAS will provide 1,300 places in software, computing and electronics training courses this year, compared with 850 last year and 585 in 1997. One hundred of the places are reserved for the long-term unemployed. AS will be using the Tramlines system pioneered by the Ballymun Jobs Centre to train this group.
The extra places will still leave a shortfall of more than 1,000 a year in meeting the anticipated needs of the high-tech sector and the report warns that employers will continue to experience recruitment difficulties "at lower skill levels" as well. In an effort to meet demand, there will be a significant increase in apprenticeships; 17,200 apprentices will be trained this year, compared with 16,400 in 1998 and 11,800 in 1997.
The report plays down the reduction in places on community employment schemes, despite mounting criticism from unions. Yesterday the Labour Party spokesman on enterprise, trade and employment, Mr Pat Rabbitte, demanded early clarification from the Government on its plans for up to 2,800 people affected by the cutbacks.
FAS is planning to put in place other measures for early school-leavers and extra places on specific skills training programmes, which should absorb almost 7,000 long-term unemployed, or more than twice the number being let go from community employment.