Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's remark is terrible because people are not on jobseeker's payments because they want to be. People want to work and the girl in question wanted to do so. The only option she was given was a job for which she was told by the company at the interview she would have to be retrained at a cost of €700, and that this would have to come out of her own pocket.

This is not a question of people scamming the system. From the way the Minister put it, that is what he was trying to intimate. This issue is about people who want to get work. They want good work. The job in question had no guaranteed hours and the woman did not know whether she was going to get five hours, 20 hours or 15 hours with the company to which Seetec referred her.

I will certainly send the case, along with another two or three, to the Minister for him to investigate. Does he agree that the JobPath scheme is probably exploiting people? Will he investigate that? Why are these companies, Seetec and Turas Nua, dealing with the contracts when it should be the Department of Social Protection? Questions arise in this regard that we must ask and investigate.

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