Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Our supervisor is doing a great job, but he is ringing social welfare offices and everybody else but cannot get them. There is a huge logjam. The spirit of what is supposed to be done by JobPath is fine, but it involves private companies. It is regressive. The forerunner of one of the companies had difficulties in England.

My colleague, Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, wanted to ask this question but could not get to it. He and other colleagues from throughout the country know of awful cases where people have to walk or cycle miles because they do not have transport to go to an office in a town. They would love to be at home in their village or community doing work on a community employment scheme. This would be meaningful work, which is very badly needed and which local authorities and the HSE have abandoned. I ask the Minister to look at this. It is regressive. It involves private companies and I do not like this aspect of it.

What I meant about getting paid is that the people are paid by the Department of Social Protection but the company gets paid based on the number of participants that come through the door and are signed up. This is what I meant. I do not mean people jumping from scheme to scheme. I ask for fair play for community employment, Tús and other schemes, which provide huge necessary work that is not being done at present, and cannot be done because people are being sucked into JobPath, or Turas Nua as it is called, and it is not satisfactory. There are problems and I hope the Minister, and his successor if he leaves, will look at this.

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