Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank both witnesses for their presentations. I have just a couple of questions. The first relates to food poverty, which appears to be a growing issue. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was before the committee last week and its representatives flagged this as an issue that is going to grow as we emerge out of the Covid pandemic. With regard to the food banks set up by the Irish Local Development Network in conjunction with FoodCloud in 22 counties, mostly counties where they were not previously provided, will the representatives give a bit more detail? Are these services still ongoing? Does the network see them remaining in place in the majority of these counties? It has been said deprivation is a cause of concern. We know deprivation had increased in 2019, long before the arrival of Covid. That will be of major concern as we move forward.

It is important that we acknowledge the wonderful work of local employment services. This was reflected in the 2018 Indecon report. It showed the excellent relationships services have with local employers and with those who use them. We also have to acknowledge local employment services are unique in that they serve a much wider cohort than only those jobseekers who are referred to them. People can just walk in, including those who are furthest away from sourcing employment. That is really important. It makes the services unique and it is why it is so important they continue in their current not-for-profit community-based form.

I raised this issue with the Minister last night as a priority question. She announced that the external report carried out on contracted services, which has not been published up until now, will be published. That will be interesting. The network has suggested now is not the time to embark on a realignment. The extension to the four new areas is coming up fairly quickly. I assume that tender will be here any day because the Minister still says the Government will be moving on that in July and will get it set up and established. They are seeking for the new and existing services to begin in January. I also got the impression from the Minister last night that JobPath will continue into next year. Referrals were meant to end at the end of 2019 and then again this year, but they have not. That is a cause of concern.

Another thing the Minister is now saying, which I have not heard before, is that the costs-met model, the current model of the local employment services, involves day-to-day scrutiny of expenditure and is burdensome on the employment services and on the Department. She is now clearly saying, as she said last night, that a payment for each individual referred is the preferred approach. This is, of course, the model of JobPath. I am even more concerned about where we are going now. It is something on which we need to keep a very close eye. If something is not broken, it should not be fixed. The local employment services are excellent. They need to be extended but the community not-for-profit model is absolutely critical. The network will have our full support on that.

With regard to community employment, age is obviously a big issue for this and for other schemes. What is the network seeing with regard to age? How much of an issue is age for those over 55 who would like to take up a place on a community employment scheme? I would imagine that, in many cases, people leaving these schemes will not be replaced. There was already an issue with people being referred to the likes of community employment schemes, which was heavily impacted by a preference for JobPath. In many areas, I would imagine that, where people have to leave, the service will simply no longer exist. That is also of concern.

The network has clearly done an awful lot of really good and rewarding work throughout the Covid pandemic. I acknowledge that. It has played a critical role in helping people throughout the pandemic. I thank the witnesses.