Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Work on the possible involvement of private sector providers, which is very complex, especially in regard to the payment basis and avoiding dead-weight effects, is ongoing within my Department. This work will be done within the framework of the Croke Park agreement. We are examining this area in depth. One should bear in mind that there are organisations, including Rehab, that provide employment services, and I am sure the Deputy is familiar with them. There are also local employment services which provide dedicated employment services through local companies.

The key is to develop models that offer good services to people who are trying to return to education, training and, ultimately, employment.

That is where the focus will be when we have completed the work on this. One must remember that we are just setting up, have just taken in those involved in FÁS and the community welfare and are setting up the pilots for the roll out. We have already been doing it on a pilot basis. We will set those up in May and June so I will come back to the Deputy when we have more advanced work done on this.

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