The Economic and Social Research Institute said it suspects "something funny is going on" in a situation where the most disadvantaged in Ireland are quite a small proportion of those on the live register.
According to a report on the "unemployable" released today by the ESRI, about half of those named on the live register vanish when they are referred to FÁS, the national unemployment agency, for an interview.
Under the 1998 National Employment Action Plan, set up to identify those most in need of help to gain and sustain employment, people are referred to FÁS after six or nine months on the live register with a view to finding a job, training or receiving counselling.
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But almost 50 per cent of the under-25 age category leave the live register rather than attend their interview, and 10 per cent of those aged between 45 and 54 do the same.
The ESRI said it is possible these people have found work in the interim, but it is also possible they were working or not really looking for work.
Mr Alan Barrett of the ESRI told ireland.comthe figures suggested "something funny is going on" and said there was certainly a suspicion these people already had jobs or were not looking for employment. He added the ESRI does not have definite evidence of fraud.
"We just don't know what the story is," he said.
The ESRI report today recommended the referral process be speeded up and referrals be processed sooner. It also suggested that as soon as a person signs the live register a statistical prediction on the likelihood of their becoming long-term unemployed be prepared.