Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not have the figures for the four areas in phase 1 to hand but there had been engagement and in some of the instances the staff involved took up employment with the new contract providers. We are in phase 2 and the procurement phase is ongoing, as the Deputy knows. I am not the employer, nor is my Department. I cannot come in and promise enhanced redundancy terms for anybody because that is not something that is in my gift and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform probably would not take too kindly to that either. My focus from the start has always been on the jobseeker. I want to help people get into work and give them the supports they need. There are more people working than ever before, the live register is at its lowest level in over a decade and unemployment is lower than it was pre-Covid, as we know.

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