Ms Alison Bunney:

I thank the joint committee for its invitation to present to it. I am a director of Seetec and before the committee with my colleague, Mr. Karl Milne, who is operations director for Dublin. I was involved in the original tendering exercise, as well as being responsible at board level for our operations in Ireland. Mr. Milne has worked with Seetec since the beginning of the contract.

Seetec Employment and Skills Ireland delivers the JobPath programme in the top part of the country, including Dublin, through a network which encompasses 54 locations, of which a total of 17 are operated by our subcontractors. The group comprises five Irish organisations selected for their skills, expertise and ability to work within the community.

One objective of JobPath was to build additional capacity in the market. This was one of the reasons we decided to deliver our contract using both direct and subcontracted delivery. We have made a significant investment in setting up our office infrastructure, information technology solutions, outreach services in rural locations, subcontractors and building our establishment. We employ 246 people directly and 80 through our subcontractors. Our employees come from a wide range of backgrounds, but they all share the same purpose - to make an impact on the lives of our clients.

Seetec was established in 1984 in the United Kingdom as a private public partnership.

Since then it is has grown into one of the leading providers of high-quality skills, employment and justice services to thousands of individuals and businesses every year. While it is a private company, the work we tender for is built around improving lives and communities. In 2016, we achieved B-Corp status, joining a worldwide community of private sector businesses which focus on social value and the corporate social responsibility agenda.

Our approach to service delivery is to be extremely client focused and as flexible as possible. Commissioned surveys by the Department demonstrate that our overall satisfaction rating has increased from a mean score of 4.09 out of five in 2016 to 4.26 in 2017. Since the start of the service, we have only had 204 complaints. To put this in context, that is less than one quarter of 1% of the total number of individuals who have started their JobPath journey with us. While we appreciate that not every individual will welcome being referred to JobPath and there are occasions where a client has an issue with the service, we use this feedback to continually improve our delivery. We are very proud of the quality of service that our staff deliver.

We are exceeding our contractual performance targets and our approach of right job, first time ensures we work with individuals to ensure the right job match resulting in sustainable jobs. Our clients reflect a wide range of experiences of unemployment from those who have never worked to those who are qualified and highly skilled. More than 40% of our referred client base has been unemployed for between two and five years. Another 24%, however, have been unemployed for between six and ten years. Unsurprisingly, our client base is relatively mature with more than a quarter of our clients over the age of 50. Many come to us with low expectations and poor experience of the labour market. One client from the west told us on day one that we had no hope of finding him a job. He is now working successfully in sales in a car dealership.

These are the kind of success stories that drive our teams. In talking to our clients to date, they aspire to work in a range of sectors from construction and trades, to catering and hospitality, healthcare and retail, as well as roles in professional services, tech, IT and the pharma and life sciences sectors. These generally reflect previous working experience and a desire to re-enter the labour market in a similar sector.

However, many say to us that, without the intervention and assistance of Seetec and JobPath, they would not have had the confidence to pursue the role in which they are now. We have delivered or facilitated more than 200,000 training interventions for our clients. These include workshops delivered in our centres, further education or training through the education and training boards across our contract area, as well as other State-funded or private training purchased by us linked to clients specific job goals. This ranges from Safe Pass for those wanting to work in construction to more specific training like Java programming which are all linked to a particular job opportunity.

Our work would not be possible without partnerships. We have sought to build links with a range of organisations which support and engage with our clients in the communities in which we operate. One of the most important partnerships is the one with employers. We have placed individuals with more than 9,000 employers in a wide range of roles in all sectors of the economy, including the top consulting firms, pharmaceutical roles, banks, accountancy firms and public service jobs of all types. However, the majority are small employers across both rural and urban locations which value the service we provide at no cost to them. These small employers have limited time and in some cases expertise in recruiting employees. Employers tell us they value the pre-employment training which we organise and that our service is fast and responsive. Many comment on the fact that we are paid by results as something they welcome. They know we want to ensure our clients are a good match for the role and are better prepared for the transition into sustained employment.

This is a sentiment mirrored by the Labour Market Council which stated:

We need a labour market activation strategy that is flexible, that is seen to mirror the needs of employers and job seekers and can respond to challenges in periods of economic difficultly, as well as exploit opportunities in periods of economic recovery.

Before I conclude, I want to tell the committee about two clients with whom we have worked. The first client had left school before his leaving certificate. When he came to us, he had no experience of the workplace. He was smart and loved computers but had low confidence. His adviser encouraged him and gradually built his confidence. She worked with him on his CV until he was more confident in sending it to employers. Based on his interests and capability, she suggested he apply for a technical support role with a major international company.

With support from our employer services team, he completed the online application process and although a leaving certificate qualification was required for the role, our intervention secured him his first ever interview. With intensive support in his interview preparation and some financial support to buy new interview clothes, he was successful and was offered his first job. He sustained 12 months' employment and was promoted to a supervisory position. He remains in employment with this company today.

A 44 year old client in the midlands who had been out of work for four years told us he was "mad to work" but he thought employers wanted a younger man. He had many years of groundswork experience and a great attitude but no information technology, IT, skills. This impacted on his job search capability. He also lacked self-confidence due to his period of unemployment. We worked with him, increasing his confidence and improving his basic IT skills. We carried out mock interviews and supported him in contacting employers. He was delighted to be offered a position. We provided him with Safe Pass and manual handling training and purchased new workwear for him. The client stated he was thankful for the time we spent with the new employee who is working as a general construction operative.

These two clients are very different but their experience is very similar. Both wanted to work but felt unable to achieve this objective on their own. Our team empowered and supported them to address their barriers to work and reach their personal goals.

Based on our experience here and in the United Kingdom, we believe the Department has used learnings from other international models to develop a contract that delivers value for clients, employers and the taxpayer. Payment by results contracts transfer risk to the private sector, create flexibility and capacity through the economic cycle and encourage contractors to invest and innovate to deliver results in the most efficient and effective way. Most important, they boost the chances of the hardest to help finding employment.

The JobPath contract is constructed with the client at the centre and in a way in which we, the contractors, are accountable for delivering quality performance. We welcome the econometric review in progress.

The employment market has changed significantly since JobPath was first introduced, and we are approaching levels of employment that would not have been contemplated a few short years ago. This does not mean, however, that the need for a range of labour market activation services disappears. Beneath the headline figures, we see some real gaps and areas of need emerging and we have an opportunity with the capacity and expertise that has been built to impact on the lives of more individuals and the communities in which they live. These are the people we must not leave behind.

We look forward to building on the work we have done, impacting on the lives of people in some of the most rural communities in Ireland and making a difference to people’s lives by supporting them into quality, sustainable work. I sincerely thank members for their time and I will be pleased to answer any questions they may have.