Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The first criterion that applies in respect of eligibility for JobPath is that the applicant must be long-term unemployed, that is, more than one year out of work. Selection is random, the objective being to ensure there is no cherry-picking of candidates. There must be equality of opportunity for everybody. Since being rolled out in Galway, the scheme has also gone live in Achill, Ballina, Belmullet, Castlebar, Loughrea and Westport.

In respect of the assessment, especially the early assessment element, it is vital there be a customer satisfaction interaction. However, there simply are not the resources within the Department to give everybody that level of service. We want to ensure people who are long-term unemployed get the best possible supports to help them to access work. We cannot just look at this particular service in isolation. A number of targets have seen set across Government to assist persons who have been out of work long term. These are the people who, in the past, were always the last to receive the benefit of a recovery. We want them to share in the current recovery by accessing the opportunities for work that are coming on stream across the country.

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