Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the Sinn Féin motion tonight. Workers' representatives in local employment services and job clubs have been outlining their concerns about a new proposed tendering process for local employment services by the Department of Social Protection. The trade unions SIPTU and Fórsa have said the process will lead to possible redundancies and a disruption in services as people return to work following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Department is arguing the range of service providers for the provision of employment services and supports for jobseekers in returning to the labour force fall within the provisions of Directive 2014/24/EU governing public procurement and must be procured through open competitive tendering. The Department's argument rolls around a determination that to comply with the provisions of the EU directive governing public procurement, there needs to be a competitive procurement process for employment services contracts. However, the Department of Social Protection seeking to tender the services will directly mean workers are now preparing to lose their jobs.

The overarching objective of this Private Members' motion is to end the Government plan to privatise and greatly scale back local employment services. Ultimately, many people believe that a tendering process will more likely suit private contractors who will provide a generic type of employment service. The local employment service, LES, has been working in the community throughout Ireland for 25 years. It means the structure of the scheme is aware of the barriers faced by people from disadvantaged areas and the service is familiar with the people it works with. It is believed private contractors would not have same knowledge or experience of working with people within the community as the current community employment structures do.

Some staff have already left their positions because of the insecurity around their future. Fórsa and SIPTU unions who represent the workers are seeking the establishment of a stakeholder forum and a stay of execution on the public tendering process. They say the Department has told them a tendering process is necessary because of EU law. I ask the Minister to stop hiding behind the Attorney General. This is the way and means around it. There are ways and means around it if the Minister wants to try. The Minister is, however, backed by Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, and they have backed the Fine Gael agenda by doing this.

The Department has said it is working to expand its provision of employment services capacity to deliver high-quality employment services that are designed to meet individual employment assistance and support requirements. We believe the Government should abandon its plans to privatise the local employment services. The new State-wide services expect to begin in January and it appears this will see the end of all job clubs and possibly many, if not all, local employment services. Staff currently employed in these centres are understandably very worried about the prospect of losing their jobs. The new proposed model will see the end of the not-for-profit, community-based, job activation service supports. It will also see the end of walk-ins without referral, impacting on those furthest from the labour market, as well as carers and lone parents, alongside the existing wrap-around supports that are now more important than ever as we emerge from Covid-19.

The Minister has repeatedly said it is open to local employment services and job clubs to tender for the new model, but the majority are priced out from this tendering process. The first tender saw a turnover requirement in the millions of euro with many LES and job clubs unable to take this financial risk.

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