Wage subsidies for the long-term unemployed and people with health problems are to be introduced after all, social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner told MPs on Thursday.

The introduction of subsidies had originally been dependent on the acceptance of controversial plans to reform redundancy law. Those plans are now on ice.
Donner told MPs the time was right to take advantage of the economic growth to get as many people as possible into work. Extra effort was needed, he said, because employers had dropped their commitment to create 200,000 new jobs for the long-term jobless because redundancy reform had failed.
The subsidy, which can only be used for ‘real’ jobs, can be claimed for a maximum of one year. The amount payable is up to half the minimum wage, currently €1,129 for the over-23s.