Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

There has been a lot of criticism. We are told an unemployment rate of 5% is really close to full employment. Obviously, there is a bit of movement among people and so forth. We are paying quite a large amount of money for the scheme. People from around the country, not only members' constituencies, do not ring about this for no reason. When one starts hearing the same things from different places, one notes a pattern. I am deeply unhappy with the scheme. The OECD may well look at it at a high level but I am referring to how it is functioning in reality. I am not sure that much of what is being done actually assists people in getting work. I am hearing that people are routinely coming in - maybe the routine is part of it - and are told to look up material they could look up at home on websites. Matching people to employment sometimes results in matching them to kinds of employment to which they are not suited. I have come across people with pretty decent education who are being matched with security work. It is not the right fit and it will not be sustainable in the longer term. If we are to rely on the scheme or if we are to renew the process, much more is needed. I am very concerned that a responsibility is being outsourced that should properly be the responsibility of the Department.