Benefit threat to help jobless work
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he wants 'unemployed people to be at the front of the queue'
A new Government scheme to cut dole queues could see the unemployed stripped of benefits unless they sign up for back-to-work initiatives.
Pathways to Work, launched by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore and Social Protection Minister Joan Burton, aims to get 75,000 people off the Live Register by 2015.
Mr Kenny said: "Pathways to Work will introduce a new code of rights and responsibilities where, in return for welfare support, jobseekers must actively seek employment or engage with employment or training courses.
"When new job opportunities come, we want unemployed people to be at the front of the queue."
The Taoiseach added that the scheme is fundamentally linked to the Government's Action Plan for Jobs.
The plan, launched last week, will aim to get 100,000 unemployed people back into the workforce by 2016.
Press Association
