Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Before the Minister responds, I have been contacted by representatives of the jobs club in Ballaghaderreen. Job clubs around the country are very concerned about this tender process. The core of this issue is that we must help people to not just get a job but to get a long-term, sustainable job. There is a fear that all we are going to see is a certain amount of churning, instead of securing long-term sustainable employment. The Minister comes from a rural part of the country, like myself, and she knows that the range or availability of jobs in those parts of the country is not the same as the opportunities in urban areas. Sustainability is not the same in rural areas as in urban areas.

We all agree that this scheme needs to go to a tender process, but the key element is how this process is structured. Established models exist, like the SICAP model, that have performance targets and built-in penalties for underperformance. It is imperative that such aspects are included in a process but that the focus will be on securing long-term, sustainable employment for the people availing of these schemes. No one is prepared or willing to defend a situation in respect of successful employment outcomes, as the Minister referred to in her contribution, ranging from 14% to 45%. We want to see all the groups around the country providing these services achieving that rate of 45% and, hopefully, going even higher than that level in providing long-term, sustainable employment. All members of this committee feel that is the approach which must be taken in this regard and that is the outcome we achieved.

I will let the Minister wrap up now on this area, because we are coming close to the time limit for this meeting.