John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

JobPath was set up initially to assist the long-term unemployed. The Minister made reference to a figure of 120,000 people, only a small number of whom have made complaints. The reality is that people are afraid to complain because of the powers JobPath has to stop or curtail payments or withold a portion of a payment. It is not working and there are serious problems in relation to what it was intially set up to do - to get long-term unemployed persons back into work - but it is not doing that. One concern is that Intreo offices are now referring people who are weeks and, in some cases, days unemployed and certainly by no stretch of the imagination long-term unemployed to Turas Nua and Seetec. Another is that people engaged in part-time work such as looking after children or other family members and so on, or other work that suits their needs and means and who only sign on for a couple of days a week are now being referred to JobPath and hounded by Turas Nua and Seetec. When did JobPath cease to be a programme to try to target long-term unemployed persons and become a tool to deal with anybody who signs on to receive jobseeker's allowance?

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