Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I have had people come to me with individual complaints, one of which I raised in the Dáil a few months ago. An individual was hounded to sign a form. He went off and got a job himself but was hounded, as was his new employer. He did not know how the JobPath company even managed to identify his new employer. He was hounded into signing a declaration to the effect that Seetec had secured the job for him. If that case were replicated, then the percentages would be wrong in terms of the success rate, but the companies are paid on performance. I have had other people tell me, for example, that they have been told that they will have to give up part-time employment. Several people who work around 20 hours per week are having difficulties. They are being called for appointments with JobPath at times when they are working. There is no flexibility in the system which seems to be daft. It also seems to go against the very point of progression. I wonder why people in that situation are in the target group at all because technically they are not long-term unemployed. They are working but are in receipt of a social welfare payment.