I need a job, not upskilling

As we go further into 2018, many politicians and media commentators are talking about how near this country is to “full employment”; as a person who is long-term unemployed, I want to tell you this is not the reality on the ground.

Unemployed people who participate in (so-called) “training” and “activation” schemes are counted as “employed” in the monthly employment statistics.

“Activation” schemes have, traditionally, been a great way for successive governments to massage the figures and that continues to be the practice of the current Government. This is obviously wrong and dishonest.

It is long past time that the CSO, Government and economists

pricked up their ears and took note of what’s happening in the real world.

There are approximately 60,000 unemployed people on training and “activation” schemes such as Community Employment, Tús, etc. The true number is much greater than the official figure, yet politicians and the Central Statistics Office persist in peddling the lie that we are very near to full employment. It is particularly disappointing to see economic pundits and the broader media buying into this lie.

I completed one of these schemes in January last. It is now five years since I’ve had any paid work.

Make no mistake – participants in these schemes do highly skilled work (teaching in my case), yet we don’t get the recognition or rewards that normally go with such work.

The term “activation” is, in itself, an insult to unemployed people.

I am 52, I don’t need “activation” and I certainly don’t need any more “work experience”, “training”, “upskilling” or any of that patronising rubbish.

All I need is a “start” in a decent paying job! Tim Buckley White Street, Cork City