Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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32. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which she continues to monitor the various measures taken to date to address long-term and youth unemployment; the extent to which any adjustment in the existing schemes needs to be considered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17738/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Pathways to Work is the Government’s overarching strategy to address the issue of unemployment both long-term and youth unemployment. In-built in the Strategy is a strong monitoring component, including a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for this purpose. Progress in implementing the priority actions and performance against the KPIs are reported publicly, on a quarterly basis. In addition, I have set up an independent Labour Market Council composed of non-governmental representatives. The Labour Market Council was established to monitor and advise on the implementation of the reforms contained in the Government’s Pathways to Work (PTW) strategy. The Council has a particular focus on Employer Engagement, JobPath and the Youth Guarantee. To date, the work of the Council has centred on reviewing the performance of PTW 2013 and advising the Department on measures to improve employer engagement. I eagerly await the Council’s Interim Report, which is due to be published later this month. Once I have read the report, I will consider adjusting the Pathways to Work Strategy in light of its findings. Thus far, most of the targets/milestones set out in PTW 2013 are either being met or ahead of target. The key achievements to date are outlined below: A further 26,600 people who had been long-term unemployed at the beginning of 2012 moved into employment in 2013 (exceeding the target of 20,000). The total number of people from this group who have moved into employment since PTW was launched in 2012 is now over 40,000; 44 Intreo ["one stop shop"] offices have been officially opened, with the remaining 16 to launched by the end of this year; Last year, 130,100 unemployed jobseekers attended group engagements, up from 68,600 in 2012. 156,700 people attended initial one-to-one interviews and a further 136,900 follow up one-to one interviews were also completed. The Department of Social Protection is now offering Group Engagements to all new jobseekers registering with its services; The number of staff deployed on front-line case work duties was doubled at the end of 2013 from c 300 to c 600, leading to an increase in the caseworker/client ratio from c 1:800 to c 1:400. The introduction of JobPath, commencing later this year, will further improve this ratio to c 1:200; Every jobseeker client on the Live Register has been profiled to help prioritise and direct interventions.

With specific reference to youth unemployment, the main strategy of the Government is set out in the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan which was launched in January. Key to our Youth Guarantee is a gradual, targeted approach focusing resources first and foremost on those with the greatest need. This will include adjustments to the existing engagement process and schemes such as JobBridge and JobsPlus. These adjustments are designed specifically to address the needs of young people at risk of becoming or remaining long-term unemployed. As part of the implementation of the Youth Guarantee it is proposed, subject to labour market and economic developments, to review the targeted nature of the Youth Guarantee offer, before the end of 2015.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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33. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the criteria for the conducting of interviews with unemployed persons to assist them in their job seeking activities; and the safeguards in place to ensure that social welfare recipients are not unduly pressurised or feel intimidated. [17645/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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My Department is committed to providing a professional, inclusive and timely service that is responsive to the needs of its clients, including comprehensive employment support and income support services. It is also committed to conducting its business in an impartial, open and transparent manner and seeks to treat people fairly, with dignity and respect. A customer charter setting out the standards of service that people can expect in their dealings with the Department is displayed in the Department’s public offices and on its website . Training programmes are provided for relevant Departmental staff in the areas of claims decision making, customer service, non-violent crisis intervention, change management, communications skills, community welfare service, jobseeking supports, employer engagement, adult guidance and IT systems. Training materials are continuously updated to reflect new programmes and changes to existing initiatives. To this end, the Department, in conjunction with an external partner, is currently undertaking a review and redesign of its functional training programmes, focusing on the skills required for key frontline roles in the organisation. To monitor its services, the Department operates a well-established formal comment and complaint system which allows clients to provide feedback on the quality of services they receive. The Department values the views of all those accessing their service and will continue to monitor and improve on the quality of service it provides as opportunities to do so arise.