Local employers should take advantage of new PRSI Scheme
Local employers are being encouraged to take advantage of a new Government scheme which provides a PRSI exemption for companies who take people off the live register. 24/06/10Local Fianna Fáil TD Niall Blaney is hopeful that the Employer Job Incentive Scheme will help reduce unemployment in County Donegal, while also providing a boost to local businesses who participate.
Under the scheme, employers will save in the region of €3,000 from the annual cost of employing an additional worker. To qualify for the scheme the employer must take on a new employee who has been unemployed for six months or longer. The scheme is open to applications for any job created in 2010 – so employers who have hired someone already this year can still take advantage of the programme.
Employers will not have to pay PRSI for 12 months forward from the time their application is approved in respect of the new employee.
“This Scheme should act as a spur to any company who is looking to add to their workforce,” said Deputy Blaney.
“Local companies, who have been considering taking on a new member of staff, or even several new employees, will now be able to do so at a reduced cost. They will not have to pay any PRSI contributions for the first year of their employment.”
“Effectively this amounts to an employment subsidy for new jobs and I really hope it will encourage employers throughout the constituency to take more people on. I also hope it will help get people who have been on the dole for a while now back into work. The scheme is deliberately targeting people who have been unemployed for at least six months as statistically these are the people who find it hardest to get back into the workforce. Unfortunately there are a lot of people in Donegal who fall into that category so I hope this will lead to more opportunities for them.”
“I also welcome the fact that the programme has been backdated to the beginning of the year. So if any employer has recently taken on a new employee and meets the various criteria of the scheme they can also submit an application.”
“My sincere hope is that this will be a strong boost to local employment. If any employer has a question about the scheme or how it operates, I would be happy to help them in any way we can. It’s important that we create more jobs in this difficult time and I think this is a definite step in the right direction to achieving that goal,” concluded Niall Blaney TD.
