Pathways to Work 2021-2025 - Third Annual Progress Report
- Published on: 5 November 2024
- Last updated on: 15 April 2025
The Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has today published the Third Annual Progress Report of Pathways to Work 2021-2025, which was prepared and overseen by the Labour Market Advisory Council.
This Report highlights the substantial progress that has been made in respect of all strands within the Pathways to Work strategy during the period July 2023 to June 2024. At the end of Quarter 2, 2024, of the 65 commitments contained in the Pathways to Work strategy, 28 were achieved fully, or achieved with ongoing delivery, and 37 were in progress, or in progress with on-going delivery.
Thankfully, the labour market situation has changed considerably since the strategy was initially published in July 2021 - the strength of the labour market performance can be seen in that:
- more people than ever are at work in Ireland - 2.75 million
- the rate of unemployment has consistently remained below 5% since January 2022 (4.3% in September)
- the gender gap in the participation rate is the lowest ever in the history of the Labour Force Survey, at 9.5 percentage points
Welcoming the findings of the report, Minister Humphreys said:
“My department is actively working with other government departments and State agencies, to respond to skills and labour shortages across a range of sectors, which have the potential to hinder future growth prospects. There is a significant emphasis on the delivery of targeted measures to support the employment of marginalised groups, particularly for persons with disabilities, lone parents and members of the Traveller and Roma Community.
"In addition, work is ongoing to proactively address the need to upskill and reskill the existing workforce in response to the green and digital transitions, and to keep skills up to date for those who are out of the labour force.
“Finally, I would like to thank the Labour Market Advisory Council, under the able stewardship of its Chairman John Martin, who generously give of their time and expertise to assist Government in ensuring that policies and services continue to serve the best interests of working age people."
The Pathways To Work 2021 - 2025 - Third Annual Progress Report is available here: