Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State listed what the individuals in these companies are supposed to do, namely, formulate a personal progression plan that helps a person to find a job, assess their personal skills, experiences, challenges and work goals, and give them help with career advice, CV preparation and interview skills. I put it to the Minister of State that is not what is happening within these companies. The details of a case have been e-mailed to every Deputy in this House. It outlines one young lady's interaction with Seetec Limited where she was told to leave her qualifications off her CV. That is not helping her with her CV. That is not assessing her career skills. It is the complete opposite.

The reality is that because it is a pay by results system, we are finding that many of those engaging with these companies are being forced into low-pay, zero-hour contract jobs. They are not getting sustainable employment. Many of them will stay in employment for a number of weeks, but after 13 weeks that company gets paid. After 13 weeks and one day, if that individual loses that job, that company will still be paid. It is a private company which in my opinion is doing the job the Intreo offices and the education and developmental intervention services, EDIS, were doing on the first day. We spent a good deal of public money on establishing the Intreo offices. We took 1,000 people from that system and we are now directing them into private companies who are only interested in profit and not giving people sustainable employment. They are being forced to take up no contract, zero-hour jobs.

See this speech in context