Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy. Bad news tends to travel around the world much more quickly than good news.

However, the survey and, importantly, the job numbers arising from this programme speak for themselves. It is probably the most successful activation programme in the history of the State.

We are conducting an econometric review, the purpose of which is to evaluate JobPath as a service and accurately estimate the impact of its interventions on people's labour market outcomes. My Department is developing a new approach using cluster analysis. The review will spread long-term jobseekers who have engaged with JobPath into clusters based on age, gender, location, employment history, education and other distinctions. It will then examine the actual interventions that each of these clusters experienced and, using a statistical analysis, identify which led to the best outcomes for each cohort. I hope that this will provide a sound, evidence-based database for the improvement of our existing activation services and the design of new ones. Work on the review has commenced and I hope to have it before the end of the year.

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