John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will not be surprised that I have a few observations and questions. I eagerly awaited the opening statement which arrived late this afternoon. I read it with some interest. I thank her for coming before the committee, presenting her opening statement and addressing questions. There is an awful lot of concern out there. She has engaged positively with the ILDN but there is also a lot of fear. That fear was echoed by representatives of the ILDN and SIPTU when they came before the committee. There are concerns about the future for the LES and for job clubs. The Indecon report shows what a massive success they have been. Some statistics jump out. In 2012, we had an unemployment rate of 16%; it dropped to 6.7% before the onset of JobPath. This clearly shows that the successful schemes that were in place were making a massive impact in addressing the unemployment crisis we had at that point. The Minister says that JobPath has been the most successful labour activation scheme in the history of the State and cites the drop in unemployment figures. However, this drop had started and was brought about by the successful schemes that had been in place.

The Indecon report also shows that the LES achieved a 28.8% success rate. The target was 30%. My concern is that the Minister and the Department do not account for the fact this figure only records people who take up employment for more than 30 hours a week. It does not account for the people who are engaged in part-time employment or work for fewer than 30 hours a week. It does not account for people who have gone into education, upskilling, training or anything like that. The achievement rate is considerably higher than the 28.8% listed. We can compare that to the alternative scheme that the Minister cites, namely JobPath. That scheme's target was 14% and it struggles to achieve that despite the money that has been put into the JobPath programme, Turas Nua and Seetec. More than €162 million has been spent and just over 11,000 people have entered employment that is sustained for 12 months or more.

Several concerns were raised in our engagement with the ILDN. Its representatives acknowledge that some changes are needed. They will state that openly. They are not afraid of change or of adapting. They know they cannot stand still. One recommendation that jumps out at me from the Indecon report is the move to competitive procurement. I would like to tease that out with the Minister. Her written submission states: "A move to competitive procurement is also consistent with legal advice my Department has received with regard to its obligations under EU procurement legislation". I would like to see the legal advice the Minister has received. The ILDN gave a number of different examples, though I cannot find them now-----