Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The JobPath companies Turas Nua and Seetec have considerable experience in successfully delivering employment services. They are very conscious of the challenges faced by people who have been unemployed for a long time and the need to provide suitable supports for such persons to help them back into work. Thus far, approximately 38,000 people have been referred to JobPath and the response has been extremely positive. Relative to the number of clients referred, very few issues have been raised at this point. Only 53 complaints have been recorded, which represents 0.14% of referrals. The majority of complaints were about people's initial reluctance to engage with the service or in respect of individual customer service experiences where people felt they were not properly treated by the officers involved. Other issues related to logistical and operational policy matters such as travel arrangements and difficulties attending appointments. All complaints are taken seriously and most have either been resolved or are in the process of being resolved.

JobPath is providing activation resources to supplement and augment the Department's own in-house activation resources. The contracts with the JobPath companies stipulate a significant number of requirements which both Turas Nua and Seetec must meet. The contracts have an in-built service guarantee which means that each jobseeker is guaranteed a baseline level of service, including frequency of meetings with personal advisers, a transparent complaints process and a range of individual supports. The companies provide a copy of their service statements for each participant at the initial engagement stage. They are subject to regular checks and on-site inspections by the Department to ensure they are delivering on their contractual obligations. Failure to deliver on contractual commitments, including customer service commitments, can result in penalties being applied to the companies.

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