As part of its measures to reduce unemployment, the Department of Social Protection offers a number of employment supports to employers. These include the following.

Jobs Plus

If you employ a person on a full-time basis who has been unemployed for 12 – 24 months, you may be eligible to receive a payment of €7,500 from the Department. This amount would be paid to you monthly in arrears over a two-year period provided you continue to employ the person. This financial incentive is increased to €10,000 if you employ a person who has been unemployed for more than 24 months.

The employment you provide must be for at least 30 hours per week and must span a minimum of 4 days in each week.   More details are on www.jobsplus.ie

First Steps programme

If you are a jobseeker between the age of 18-24 years old and would like to gain some work experience, you should talk to a Departmental case officer in your local Intreo Centre to determine your eligibility for the First Steps programme.

If you are an employer who would like to offer a work placement opportunity to a jobseeker aged between 18-24 years old, please click on the link below to find out more about the First Steps programme.  Alternatively, you can also email the following address for further information:  firststeps@welfare.ie

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/youth-development-internship.aspx