Mr. John McKeon:

First, we conducted a lot of research and many assessments on the JobPath model before we went down the route. We engaged expert consultants called the Centre of Economic and Social Inclusion from the UK, which is a not-for-profit organisation and a recognised, for want of a better term, left leaning consultancy group in the UK. We engaged Professor Dan Finn from the University of Southampton, who would be from that kind of background, to advise us on the design of it. We held a number of open consultative forums where trade unions, local employment service and community employment service providers contributed to the design. We involved the National Economic and Social Council, NESC. Again, people from NUI Maynooth attended meetings with us. The best report written on activation, probably in many countries, is the report by NESC in 2011, which was called Activation, Supports and Services for Unemployed Jobseekers. It suggested that we need to contract out and that we should examine other contract models. We did a good deal of research. We are aware of the research findings, which are mixed. The Senator quoted research where it is stated that these models do not work, but there are other research findings which state that they do work. Therefore, the findings are mixed.

We tried to design the contract on the basis of what the evidence showed worked best. We tried to design it on the basis of how will we get the best outcomes for people. For example, in the contract there are specified minimum levels of employment outcomes that contractors are expected to provide. If they do not reach those levels of employment outcomes, we reduce their payments - there are penalty payments - and they are 60% in excess of the counterfactuals at the time the contract was signed. They have very high performance targets to hit. If they do not hit them in terms of getting people into sustained jobs - 12 months in employment as a minimum - there are payment penalties. We will see whether that comes to pass.

It is a four-year contract. There is no obligation on the Department to extend or renew it. There is a two-year work-out from it because the last referral is at the end of the fourth year. A person is with the provider for 12 months and if he or she gets a job on the last day of that 12-month period, he or she is down their payments for the subsequent 12 months. It is a four-year contract with a two-year work-out provision.

The Deputy raised a question about education. Probably uniquely among these contracts around Europe, this contract provides for the providers to send people on into training and education and we have what is called a stop the clock mechanism. There is an incentive to providers and they are facilitated in sending people on to training and education.