Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is adding up to a huge cost for the State. Mr. Conlon said that study was limited because it only took in 25% of cases. We are subjected to opinion polls here all the time whereby a polling company interviews 1,000 people and tells us all correctly how many votes each of us will get in the next election based on that. I think 25% is a fairly representative sample, and 18% finish up with full-time employment. That is a damning indictment, quite frankly. I will go through the matters I wish to raise and the witnesses can respond afterwards. That figure is pretty grim, especially for the amount of money we are spending. I noticed, by the way, that when Mr. Conlon was referring to the surveys that were carried out on satisfaction levels, he did not refer at all to the numbers polled.

That is just a side issue. The officials have stated that an econometric review of JobPath is being undertaken by the Department, which will not be completed until the third quarter of 2018. Is there any chance it could be speeded up a bit? When the review is completed, any recommended changes will have to be put in place, which all takes time. If something is not working, the longer it is left in place the more taxpayers' money is being spent unnecessarily. We are almost down to an unemployment rate of 5% or 6%, which in most states is regarded as full employment. One would imagine that with the economy growing so quickly and unemployment falling so quickly, many in that 18% cohort would probably have got jobs anyway.

We receive repeated requests here about people who are running and managing community employment, CE, schemes, as well as from representatives of communities who have benefitted from CE schemes. There is a rule that if somebody is engaged by JobPath, they are ineligible to go on a CE scheme. Mr. Conlon stated that such people are eligible for further education, training and claiming expenses etc. I would like to know what that figure came to. What is the origin of the rule in respect of JobPath and the CE schemes? Is it statute-based or is it just some internal rule that the Department applies? What is the justification for it?