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

It is interesting that Sinn Féin knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing. I reiterate that the average cost to the State for the tens of thousands of people who have gone through JobPath is €780 per person. That is the average payment. The average cost per person for other contracted services we use is significantly higher and there is never a peep out of the Deputy about it. More important, the average cost to the State of a person staying on the live register - apart from the psychological, emotional and well-being cost to that individual - is more than €12,000. The Deputy is asking me to take issue with an average cost of €780 to get somebody back into full-time sustained employment rather than leave that person on the live register. Is that what he is asking me? If so, we will continue to be at odds on this matter.

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