Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Well, what is wrong is Covid-19. I think that is the simple, immediate answer. We are still recovering from it. The referral process is still recovering from it, but it is recovering. In September and October, we had 613 or 614 new starters. Comparably, when you look at October 2019, the figure was 726. We are therefore getting back to a monthly starter rate that is getting closer to normal times. However, on referrals, there are between 1,200 and 1,500 per month in recent months. It is going in the right direction. The activation services are up to speed in capacity now. That was not the case previously. However, since the economy has re-opened that has been the case. Some 100 new job coaches have been appointed as well, since the pathways to work strategy. We are in a recovery phase. It is going in the right direction, but we have some distance to go yet.

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