Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 12 November 2020

Public Accounts Committee

2019 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 – Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Chapter 4 – Control over Welfare Payments

11:30 am

Mr. John McKeon:

We would always have an eye to the fact that people who are leaving sectors might have a skill mismatch with other sectors, and there is a large range of training programmes and services available. The Department for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has got a big increase in its budget for next year and we will refer people to those programmes, as does JobPath. The Deputy should be aware that in JobPath there is flexibility and it refers people to training. The period of engagement is paused while people are on training. In fact, the referral to training from JobPath is probably a little higher than from other services.