Deputy John Lyons has said that 'social clauses' requiring quotas for the long-term unemployed are needed in major public infrastructure contracts to help jobseekers into employment.

Speaking in a Dáil Topical Issue Debate on Social Clauses in Public Procurement Deputy Lyons stated: "We will spend approximately €13.1 billion on capital projects in the period 2013-2016; with much of this in labour-intensive areas where jobseekers have the required skills.

"I believe we should require that social clauses be inserted in new infrastructure projects with quotas for the long-term unemployed. A practical example of this is the new National Children’s Hospital, where we could require that 10% of the new construction jobs created would have to be given to those who are unemployed for over 12 months. This would increase the social benefit from the project.

"As of January there were 189,857 long-term claimants on the Live Register, with about two thirds of these being men who mainly used to work in construction and related sectors. This is a structural unemployment issue and as well as retraining options, we need to maximise the employment opportunities for these jobseekers from public spending in the economy.

"I recognise that there are issues of compliance with EU legislation and some concerns about job displacement; but I firmly believe these can be overcome using Irish examples like the Grangegorman DIT Employment Opportunities Study.

"Evidence shows that social clauses – such as quotas to target the long-term unemployed – are practical in services and works contracts; can be effectively monitored and support labour activation policies."

(CD/GK)