Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for arriving late to the meeting but I had to attend a debate in the Seanad. There is much that is very positive in the Indecon report and there is a detailed breakdown of what we already know from the different testimonies to the committee. I wish to focus on the benefits of the LES. I might mention JobPath but I will focus on the schemes we are reviewing.

The Minister will be aware that yesterday, I brought a public procurement Bill through Second Stage in the Seanad. It has a long journey ahead. What started my interest in that area was JobPath being proposed. I recall being told at the time by somebody from the Department - I was a civil society representative at the time - that we had to do it because of European directives. I looked at those directives, where they were coming from, how they were changing and saw that there was huge scope within them. While much of the analysis of the report is strong and robust, what emerged, and it emerged strongly in our hearings earlier this week, was that the recommendation that competitive open procurement should be considered felt like a non sequitur. The case was not made for it. In terms of the services of general interest, there is scope for the model of delivery we have at present to continue or to be enhanced. We do not necessarily need to move to an open procurement model. It is important that the Minister and the Department allow this model to be developed further. The ultimate test should be around the outcomes, and they should be monitored, but the competitive process has not always delivered the best outcomes for us.

Certainly, some of the very blunt measures, such as the 30% target, do not capture some of the positive work that has been done. We know the LES have hit 28.8%. They are almost hitting the 30%. What struck me was that in both job clubs and the local employment services, that was the measure for over 30 hours. However, a huge number of people were also moving into perhaps less than 30 hours work. That was an important step for them in terms of their progression and building labour market attachment. It may have been persons who were also balancing caring and they were considering the 15 hours childcare. The way we measure it at present does not capture those who may only be working 20 hours or 15 hours, but that is an important step back into the market for them.

Another matter that strongly emerged from what we heard from the local employment services is the recognition that there are multiple other positive outcomes. Jobs are one outcome. I am aware that the Minister understands this issue because we have discussed it in the past. A return to education is also a positive outcome. That is not something for JobPath in its contract. The local employment services have made strong connections with universities and while it might not hit the 30% target that is a very important outcome. That texture of outcome and the responsiveness that local employment services have shown to a changing landscape are great strengths. When services are not for profit, they are able to be more responsive than services that have not only the Department to engage with as their client but also shareholders with projected income and returns. They do not have that flexibility.

The number of long-term unemployed has decreased, but there are other cohorts. There are people who may not be on the live register and people who may be parenting alone. They might have young children but may want to access services on a voluntary basis. I was struck, for example, that those who would probably be qualified adults in the system had found support from local employment services. That might be jobless households where somebody might not be on the register but who was able to engage and get supports in that regard. It is similar for people with disabilities and particular programmes in that respect. There is huge scope. Again, it is very important that this wider scope of potential interest in people who may have a slightly longer route to employment and may need particular supports is in a positive frame and not in a punitive or sanction-based frame. Local employment services can do that.

I called into the climate change committee meeting just as it went into public session and was voting. It was an interesting experience. One of the main issues debated was support in just transition for those in carbon-intensive industries as those change. People wanted to know that it was not simply going to be a JobPath model but a joined-up model. Again, the local employment services and the job clubs are exactly the type of measure and space for transitioning. They have said that they have had the scope in the past and could have it in the future for working with those who are not unemployed yet, who may be in precarious work or who may be in sectors that are down-scaling. That is a huge potential. I will not go into all the evidence of how they work. I am talking about the potential for the future. As the Chairman said, we face a new set of challenges. The local employment services and the job clubs are the appropriate tool for the complexity of what we face. We are in danger of losing some of that if we move to an open competitive model that is frozen in time when we sign up to a five-year contract and have a certain number of people attached. That flexibility in response could be lost. I believe we should scale these up.

My last point is on something that is very good about the model at present. I worked with Wexford Local Development and young rural unemployed people in the past. What was wonderful was that we listened collectively to those young people on how they felt the system could work better and what a rural Youth Guarantee might look like.

There was an openness, a social benefit and a conversation, which is different from feeling like an axe is hanging over one's head due to the number of CVs one has sent. People were feeding back and the system was responding. This is basically a paean to local employment services and job clubs, but they are what we need for the future. I hope that the Minister will tell us how this will translate into a scaling up and that she will address education links specifically.