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

On the second question, there is ongoing co-operation and engagement through local Intreo offices. Where issues like those the Deputy mentioned have come up, they are covered under the contractual agreement. People are going to great lengths to ensure individuals can access the centres. Where there have been difficulties with transport, for example, minibuses have been hired to collect people and deliver them to the nearest centre. It is a flexible process.

The Deputy's first question is about self-referral and it is something I expect to be raised more and more as we proceed. In the case of Tús, we responded to demand in this regard by stipulating that 20% of participants could be assigned via self-referral. In the case of JobPath, it is a little early in the process to take that type of approach. We have rolled out the pilot schemes, as I outlined. If the service works well, which I am confident it will, there will be a demand on future Governments to allow some element of self-referral. I am already hearing complaints from people whose neighbour was able to access JobPath but they were not. I see a future demand in that regard and I will encourage a response from Government when it arises.

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