Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 37: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the total number of job facilitators; the average waiting times to access support from a job facilitator; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43787/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Department's facilitators work with social welfare recipients of working age to promote economic participation and enhance social inclusion. Recipients include people in receipt of jobseekers payments, people parenting alone, people in receipt of disability payments and people providing care. Facilitators work with these social welfare recipients to identify appropriate training or development programmes which will enhance the skills that the individual has and ultimately improve employment chances as well as help them to continue to develop personally. They develop individual progression plans with the customer.

Facilitators operate within the Department's regional structure and are located throughout the country covering defined geographical areas. They work closely with FÁS and other agencies at a local level to identify and target appropriate education, training and development programmes for social welfare recipients of working age. The facilitator service is available to social welfare customers at all local offices. Facilitators hold open clinics and meet with people who have been referred either by the social welfare local office, by other agencies or by local development groups.

Appointments to see a facilitator can be made by contacting the social welfare local office or the facilitator directly. In addition to this, cases are also selected centrally and referred to facilitators by the employment support section. The service was enhanced under the national development plan social and economic participation programme, which provided for the provision of 70 job facilitators. There are currently 67 facilitators serving which constitutes 65.4 full time equivalent posts.

In the current economic climate the demand for the facilitator service is elevated. Facilitators generally have scheduled days when they are available in different locations across our network of offices and people wishing to meet with a facilitator would be advised to call on one of those days, as a centralised appointment system is not maintained. Accordingly, waiting times for individual facilitators are not maintained, although facilitators make every effort to contact all interested customers as quickly as possible.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Minister confirmed today that almost 440,000 people are unemployed.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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No, I dealt with that earlier.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We will not get into it again unless the Minister wants to. There are 67 people in place to deal with people who are unemployed, meaning each facilitator must deal with almost 7,000 people. That is unacceptable. Will the Minister provide more staff under the Croke Park agreement by moving people to this area? People are unemployed and we must get them back into the workplace. How will extra staff be used to deal with the issue, as it is unacceptable for each facilitator to have to deal with almost 7,000 unemployed people?

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy knows that the employment services part of FÁS is being moved to the Department, so all the resources involved in placing people through FÁS will also now be part of a seamless service to be provided between facilitators and FÁS staff. They will not do exactly the same work but all the personnel will work together coherently. We could say that this is the Croke Park agreement working as we are bringing the FÁS services to the Department, meaning we will have the joint resources of what was FÁS in my Department in this regard. When that happens, without adding extra cost burdens to the State there will be a much more efficient service.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Will it be a one-stop shop?

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Does the Minister accept that the transfer of FÁS staff to his Department provides an opportunity to set up a proper one-stop shop system for unemployed people? This seems to be the weakest link currently, as unemployed people cannot get basic information about available training schemes. Specifically, it seems there is nobody within the Department in a position to advise unemployed people about the implications if they move from welfare to work with regard to welfare payments, in-work supports, tax, PRSI and so on. Will the Minister give an assurance that this will be made a priority and this kind of specific advice will be available to unemployed people, most of whom want to move from welfare to work?

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The purpose of bringing the employment service of FÁS to the Department is to provide a comprehensive service to unemployed people so they can be made aware of all the opportunities out there on a one-stop shop basis. I welcome the Deputy's support for this approach, which is fundamental to the changes made by the Taoiseach when he set up the Department of Social Protection. We have moved rapidly and we are bringing in a second Social Welfare Bill. We are quickly moving to the type of services that the Deputy wishes we could provide. She should rest assured that there is nothing between us on this issue.