Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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7. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection to report on the operation of Intreo by her Department since its introduction and the level of engagement between her Department, other Departments and State agencies in terms of ensuring availability of access to appropriate training and educational courses for jobseekers, particularly in the sectors for which there is a significant demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1208/16]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The question relates to the operation of the Intreo offices by the Department and the level of engagement between the Department and other Departments and State agencies in respect of education and training.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department launched Intreo in 2012 to provide a new integrated public employment service whereby people looking for work can access income support and employment services.

This involved the merger of community welfare services, Department of Social Protection jobseeker income support services and the former FÁS employment and community services divisions. As part of this service integration, the Department located service provision for all of these services in new or refurbished Intreo centres, providing a much improved customer service environment. I recall that the Deputy attended the launch of the Intreo office in Galway. It is a very fine office and gives people the respect, dignity and space they deserve. It also successfully developed and implemented a range of new service processes, including profiling of jobseekers, group information sessions and case management, and, in parallel, established a new employer relations division. This division works with employers to encourage them to recruit staff from the live register.

When opening the new Balbriggan office last week, I was very pleased to hear that a number of employers in Dublin Airport are now using the services of the Intreo offices in Balbriggan and Swords to source additional employees. This is central to the service Intreo is designed to provide and has contributed to a significant increase in employment in recent years. There are a number of measures for jobseekers, such as JobBridge, JobsPlus, TÚS, Gateway and the back to work family dividend, which was introduced last year, all of which have contributed to a reduction of about 40% in the unemployment rate since 2012. The impact of all these changes is also seen in the much improved service processing times, the early and more frequent engagement of jobseekers in the activation process and the high levels of customer satisfaction reported through an independent customer survey.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. We will come back to her.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. Intreo offices have been a success story of the Government. They were part of the programme for Government and discussed for decades. Thankfully, the Government has established a very valuable service. It is regrettable that this was not done when more money was available in different times.

As the Minister said, the recent jobs figures indicate the success of the job creation initiatives from her Department and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I refer to the level of engagement that has taken place with regard to provision of education and training services to match job vacancies. I welcome the improved engagement with employers. How much engagement does the Department have with employers? Is it skewed towards one area or another?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I would be grateful if the Deputy passed on information to employers in his constituency, Galway West. We welcome contact from employers who are seeking employees. We now have an employer service, which comprises a series of staff dedicated specifically to contacting employers when they are recruiting. We want to ensure that people who are unemployed have a chance to pitch for those jobs and, it is to be hoped, get them. There are many different examples of that.

If an employer comes to us or we make contact with an employer, we will, for instance, consider the kind of candidate it wants, taking into account age, background and other information. We will consider, in particular, educational qualifications and whether a candidate has any previous work experience. If a new employer coming to an area wants to employ ten or 20 people, we will undertake, together with local education and training boards, the training of potential staff. The employer can then offer such people employment.

We launched the new Intreo Pathways programme today. Employers, such as those based at the airport, are now using Intreo services to recruit in areas such as Sligo, where JenaValve Technology worked with St. Angela's College and the Sligo Intreo office to develop a particular course in technology relating to medical devices. Subsequently, all of the people from the course were successfully employed.

I certainly welcome the initiatives on engagement with employers. The Intreo offices have a great role in client profiling and one-to-one consultation with case officers. What is the role of the IDA, Enterprise Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta with regard to the Intreo offices, profiling the jobs they have or engaging with interested participants?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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We have seen much job recovery in big cities and towns and we want to spread it out to the entire country. In this respect, IDA officials and Enterprise Ireland officers deal with local Irish companies on a county by county basis and in the regions. They can deal with companies and look at Irish people who may have ideas for new enterprises. Where there is a training requirement, and I gave an example with regard to Sligo and I can give other examples also, if we are told about it we will set out to work with whoever is the appropriate education provider. We took in the old FÁS employment services. We have the new education and training boards, colleges and institutes of technology, and in Sligo we have had very successful co-operation with St. Angela's College. We are prepared to be open to what will most help the employer and local unemployed people to get matched to get work.