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

I apologise.

Turas Nua Limited is one of two companies which my Department contracted for the delivery of JobPath services. Turas Nua is headquartered in Roscrea, County Tipperary, where it employs 39 people. The aim of the service is to assist jobseekers in finding sustainable full-time employment. This is in contrast to the community employment schemes which provide part-time employment and training opportunities in local communities as a stepping stone back to employment for people on a range of social welfare payments, including the long-term unemployed, those who are parenting alone or who are in receipt of other social welfare payments. The Deputy will appreciate that the welcome reduction in the unemployment rate is a factor in recruitment to all programmes. However, the data available to my Department show that the number of people who have participated in the various schemes since the introduction of JobPath in 2015 has been relatively stable.

I recently announced changes to the terms and conditions for participation in community employment schemes. The main purpose of the changes is to broaden the availability of the programme to a greater number of people on the live register and standardise other conditions around the length of time a person can participate in the programme. Among the changes I plan to introduce next month will be a reduction in the general qualifying age for those on the live register from 25 years to 21. This will give more young people the opportunity to participate in community employment schemes. In addition, I have agreed to review the current participation limits for older people and a decision will be made in this regard in the summer. As part of the implementation of the new measures, my Department is consulting with key stakeholders across the country. If any scheme is experiencing particular difficulties, it should contact the local Intreo office for assistance.

An analysis of employment outcomes for JobPath participants shows that they have a higher chance of securing and remaining in a job than others with a similar duration of unemployment. The complete details are available on the Department's website. Given that only a small number of people have completed their full engagement with JobPath, these results can only be treated as indicative at this stage. Nevertheless, they are very encouraging. My Department will be publishing similar performance reports for each successive quarter as jobseekers complete their 12-month engagement period, with the next results to be published in the coming weeks. In addition, my Department will have an econometric review of the JobPath service which will commence later this year when participant numbers will have reached a level to support a robust review.

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