The latest unemployment figures could scarcely be more encouraging; the number of jobless has now declined to its lowest level since 1983 and is now poised to dip under 200,000 for the first time in almost two decades. To place this achievement in some kind of context, it is worth recalling there was immense public concern just five years ago when unemployment moved close to the 300,000 level.
In all, some 201,234 people are now registered as unemployed - down 6,300 in the past month and down a staggering 33,500 in the past year. The figures demonstrate how the traditional flaw in the Irish economy - its failure to translate growth into new jobs - has been overcome. Reflecting the record level of growth in the economy, the unemployment rate is now 6.7 per cent of the workforce; four years ago in less prosperous times, the jobless rate was over 12 per cent.
The dramatic fall in unemployment is very good news for those who have found work and for their families. But it will also have a considerable impact on the public finances. By most estimates, the decline of over 33,000 in the jobless figures over the past year will save the Government more than £1.1 billion over this period. And this at a time when the Exchequer finances are already on target to deliver a surplus of well above £1 billion this year.
It is reasonable to conclude that the dramatic decline in the jobless figure is not unrelated to the Employment Action Plan, introduced last September by the Tanaiste, Ms Harney. Under the scheme, young people who have been unemployed for six months or more are obliged to present themselves for interview at local FAS offices. From what can be gauged to date, the impact has been dramatic. Some 51 per cent of those called for interview have left the Live Register.
It may be that some of these people signed off because they found a suitable job or training opportunity, but there will have been others who left because they were already working in the black economy. The Employment Action Plan has its critics, who argue that it undermines the unemployed and marginalised. No fair-minded citizen would make the case for an action programme which unfairly hounded the unemployed. As one senior official from the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs observed on RTE's News At One yesterday, there are some people who, because of social, addiction, or other problems, are not ready for work.
But the Employment Action Plan is clearly succeeding in getting people off the dole; indeed, it will shortly be extended to deal with those under 25 who have been unemployed for 18 months or more and to those aged 25-34 who have been unemployed for more than a year. Despite what its critics might say, this pro-active approach to unemployment is clearly working. It is drawing young unemployed people back into the workforce or onto training courses - and, in many cases, it is helping to break the cycle of dependency.