§ 13. Mr. Neil Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what new measures are being introduced in Northern Ireland for the long-term unemployed.
§ Dr. BoysonOn 26 March I announced a package of enterprise and employment measures for Northern Ireland, all of which, I hope, will be helpful to the long-term unemployed. These will include individual in-depth counselling interviews, short restart courses, a £20 weekly jobstart allowance and extra job places available in Enterprise Ulster and action for community employment schemes.
§ Mr. HamiltonMy hon. Friend will agree, I am sure, that everybody who has the economic wellbeing of the Province at heart will welcome this imaginative package of measures. Can my hon. Friend give us any indication of how many job vacancies are filled every month in Northern Ireland?
§ Dr. BoysonI believe that about 9,000 people every month get jobs in Northern Ireland—coming from unemployment or from full-time education—and that something equivalent to the total number of long-term unemployed are placed in jobs every four months.