Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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5. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason a jobs club service funded by FÁS has been withdrawn from Bawnogue, Clondalkin, Dublin; and the reason jobs club workers have not been paid for weeks worked or being offered enhanced redundancy as would be the norm in such circumstances. [19162/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Job clubs provide a valuable service to supplement the Department’s own employment services, particularly with regard to the provision of job search and CV preparation workshops for unemployed people. Job clubs accepted approximately 14,000 referrals of individual jobseekers from the Department in 2012. In addition, they provided a walk-in resource service to people in their community. The annual budget for the support of job clubs in 2013 is €6 million, an increase of 5% on the 2012 allocation. I have had the opportunity to visit a number of job clubs and believe well run job clubs have an important role to play. I commend a number of the job clubs I have had the honour to visit.

The Department has annual contracts for the provision of job club services with over 40 companies. Each contract is reviewed on an annual basis. As part of the review process, the Department undertakes a structured appraisal of that provider's performance with each element of provider performance being scored against a common rating scale used to assess all job clubs.

The elements scored include conformance with good corporate governance and achievement of service and progression outcomes. Following an evaluation of Bawnogue Unemployed Group Limited, the Department did not believe it could justify the renewal of the contract. It notified Bawnogue Unemployment Group Limited of this decision in January 2013. The annual contract with Bawnogue Unemployed Group Limited subsequently expired on 29 March 2013. It was fully funded by the Department up to that date. The Department is considering alternative arrangements for the provision of jobs club services in the area. It is delivering employment services in the area through the local employment service's Bawnogue office and the Department's employment service office in Clondalkin. As the Department is not the employer, salaries and redundancy payments are matters for the company to address. Obviously, statutory redundancy payments are handled by the Department.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

If a company or employer is unable to pay statutory redundancy to its employees, it is open to them to avail of the Department's redundancy and insolvency payments scheme, details of which are available on the Department's website. The Department is committed to the provision of quality jobs club services. It will continue to evaluate jobs clubs to ensure the funds disbursed to fund their services are properly and effectively discharged to provide effective services to jobseekers and facilitate the continuous improvement of the service.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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The vital part of the Minister's reply was her reference to the State not being the employer in this case. I remind her that the State often sets the terms, conditions and rates of pay in jobs clubs and most other community employment schemes. Will the Minister examine the case of Bawnogue Unemployed Group Limited? The Bawnogue area needs a service of this nature because it has a high level of unemployment. I will not say whether it needs the existing service or another service. A service urgently needs to be provided by Intreo or some other agency. The Department needs to address an issue that has arisen in this context. One of the group's workers, Martin Walsh, has been occupying its premises because he has not been given the enhanced redundancy he deserves. That needs to be addressed. Some of the workers at the DBD jobs club in Bawnogue have not been paid. Can the Minister give a guarantee that a jobs club service, or its equivalent, will be in place in this part of Clondalkin within weeks if not days? It is needed in light of the huge job of work this group has done over the years.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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As the Deputy knows, I am very familiar with the Bawnogue area. I am aware that there is a significant unemployment problem in Bawnogue and other parts of the greater Clondalkin area. At the moment, the local employment service and the Department's office in Clondalkin are providing services to people in the area who are seeking to get back to work. I will revert to the Deputy when our examination of the situation has been completed. I understand that two people were working under the most recent contract at Bawnogue Unemployed Group Limited and that the total value of the annual contract was €115,000. Returning to the contractual situation, I should mention that a number of the organisations that provide services to the Department of Social Protection and other Departments, including the organisation in this case, are private limited companies. The responsibility of the Department relates to statutory redundancy. If the company that was employing these two people was unable to meet its redundancy commitments, the Department of Social Protection would cover that under the insolvency arrangements. I am not familiar with the details of this case. The Deputy might like to provide them to me privately. We hope to have another service provided quite soon.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for assuring me that another service will be provided quite soon. The State sets and evaluates the framework for pay, hours and everything else in the case of organisations which are funded in this way. When it withdraws that money and two jobs are lost as a consequence, the role it plays must involve more than providing statutory funding. This issue is coming up more frequently. It came up when community development projects were being squeezed. The State told these companies to become limited companies in the first place.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I do not particularly want to discuss private affairs in public.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I understand.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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If the Deputy wants to advise me of any other circumstances, I will be happy to hear from him. Many economists are quite critical of jobs clubs, community employment schemes and other efforts to help people back to work and to provide services in communities. In fact, most of the reports on jobs clubs are very positive. The Department has an annual review process. It was decided not to renew the annual payment of €115,000 in respect of the Bawnogue service, unfortunately, following an objective review of the service that was carried out on the basis of certain criteria. As I mentioned, I have increased the overall budget for jobs clubs this year. They are very helpful for people in areas like CV preparation. As the Deputy knows, if one has been working for 15 years, one will not have drawn up a CV for 15 years. Jobs clubs allow people to meet other people who may unfortunately have become unemployed, to get to know people who are going back to work and to make contacts. All of that jobs club activity has certainly been very positive. I will revert to the Deputy on this individual case.