Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have a couple of questions but I will go through them quickly. In the original Pathways to Work the aims were hope and we all had great hopes and ambitions. In 2013 it is coming together. It was a little sluggish along the way because of delays with offices and so on but, in fairness, as other members have said, the service is kicking in now. I think we have always believed in it. It is a matter of rolling it out to as many as possible as quickly as possible. I know the witnesses share this view.

There is a delay with the offices which I understand from the Minister has to do with getting offices in some cases or getting them kitted out. Is there anything we can do to move that along? It appears strange given the availability of so much office space that we cannot do anything in the short term to fill the gap. The Intreo service is great. It would be nice to have it available everywhere. I know there are plans for 2014 but it would be good to get there as quickly as possible. Is there anything we can do on that issue?

During the initial crash when numbers increased dramatically, there were probably times when, due to various reasons, the engagement between the client and staff did not work out and some people did not have great experiences. There will always be cases of that in any service. I have come across people who have an opinion of the service or an opinion of the various policies and they are out of date. Is there anything we can do to target people on our list and let them know that the service has changed or the options have changed, that it is easier to take on part-time work and go off the social welfare payment and go back on it. That message is out there. I still come across people who have turned down work because they say it will take ages to back on social welfare. However, it does not. In fairness to the witnesses, that is corrected, but that message is not out there. Perhaps in the engagement with clients it may be possible to get a simple straight-forward letter setting out the update on what is available and the options. It could probably be targeted at those who are in the system a long time.

I turn to case workers. I appreciate there has been much movement of staff in the Department, the majority of whom I compliment. The overwhelming majority have adapted but there are always a few who have not adapted and we have to let the witnesses know about them when we come across them. What type of training is provided for case workers? They are into career guidance at this stage. Do they get much guidance or retraining? The work they do is a delicate operation when trying to advise a person on a career, where he or she will go and so on. In the actions for the year ahead, the witnesses mentioned contracting more additional capacity. Is that in the case managers, career guidance, or profiling? Where is it hoped to used the additional capacity? How soon will that happen? I am aware the capacity needed is not available. What areas is it intended to target with the additional capacity from the private sector?

There was also a question on course adaption. The Department is engaging with others to adapt courses. It is great to see that.

We often speak here about having common sense. An issue that has arisen a few times is the back-to-education allowance and the various rules that apply. Are there any plans to examine the rules. The one that has come to light this year is that one has to be out of the education system for two years. There are other rules relating to how long one is out of work. I have a couple of clients who, for whatever reason, got mixed advice but they are now in colleges and on a place. They have been told they will not qualify for it because of the rules and yet they will leave that college course for this year and go back on jobseekers. There is no difference in the cost to the Department but because they do not tick the box they will leave the college course. I have a couple of cases and I know others have cases also. Is there a little bit of scope to do something given that it is cost neutral? I thought at this stage we could adapt the rules if the need arose, when it was obvious and common sense applied. I am told by people on the front line in the service that this is quite common. Sometimes it is due to a mix up. I accept they may have enrolled incorrectly in the course but perhaps some way of resolving the issue could be looked at.

There are still differences in the service across the country. I am aware of the number of offices in operation and the number of staff involved. It would be ideal if we could have the same standard of service everywhere. I appreciate due to office layout and various pressures that is not always possible. We should soon be at the stage where the level of service is the same everywhere. I do not mean the roll-out of Intreo but the service in general. I still come across cases around the country where the staff at the front line are not up to date on basic information they should have. They are then not in a position to pass it on to somebody. There are people who, on their first engagement with the service, do not get the best information. That should not happen given all the new equipment available. There are many good schemes in place. The staff at the front line need to know them and need to talk about them and sell them if possible. I acknowledge they are posted on the walls and available to read. I am conscious that some clients cannot follow the poster or cannot read it. We should always be at the point of sale. If one goes into a bank one is always asked if one wants to buy insurance. It is constantly trying to sell something to customers. We probably need to get to that stage with our staff, where they will ask clients, "Do you know of..." and keep pressing it.

Mr. McKeon engaged a great deal with JobBridge.

It seems to be a very adaptable scheme and the feedback so far seems to be very positive. However, some employers have told me that they are coming across a lot of graduates in interviews who, on principle, will not sign on. They will not claim social welfare for three or four months and therefore cannot avail of the scheme. I know that the Department must deal with the people before it and can only work with those who are on the list. However, there are people out there who will just not sign on and there is a danger that they will fall through the cracks. Graduates coming out of college will miss out on the potential for work experience because they have not been signing on for three months. A number of employers have raised this issue with me but I am not sure if there is a solution to it. I am simply bringing the issue to the attention of the witnesses, who may have come across this problem themselves.

Representatives of the Crafts Council of Ireland appeared before this committee on a number of occasions in the last 12 months. The council told us that it was engaging with the Department to determine whether the rules of JobBridge could be adjusted to make allowances for the circumstances of its members, many of which do not employ anyone else. Has any progress been made on that issue? Was a solution found?

This committee drew up a report last year on youth unemployment, which was sent to the Department. The part-time job initiative that was run by the Department in the early 1990s was flagged as a very successful programme. Has that been considered for reintroduction? My understanding is that a person was given a limited number of hours' work in a given area and would continue to be paid his or her social welfare entitlement while receiving an hourly rate of pay. It was cost-neutral from the Exchequer's point of view, but the individual concerned received valuable work experience and was closer to the job market. It was not unlike some of the schemes currently in place. That might be one to reconsider. The feedback this committee received suggested that it was a very successful scheme. I was still in school at the time of its operation but judging from the feedback we received, it was very good. I ask the witnesses for their thoughts on that.