John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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31. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the numerous ongoing issues facing persons seeking employment who have engaged with JobPath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39597/17]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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The privatisation of the job activation programme through JobPath has been a nightmare for job seekers across the State. I have raised this issue on numerous occasions with the Minister and her predecessor. Is she aware of the serious difficulties within the JobPath programme and that JobPath is going above and beyond what it was set up to do?

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can only look at the facts. All the evidence available to me indicates the experience of customers who have engaged with JobPath has been exceptionally positive. That is not drawn from anecdotal evidence. We did a customer satisfaction survey over the past couple of months which indicated that up to 81% of customers were satisfied with the service provided by JobPath and that it had improved their chances of securing employment. Only 5% to 8% expressed dissatisfaction. In real terms, of the 120,000 people who have been assisted under the scheme in the past 18 months, 368 have made a complaint, which is a tiny proportion. It is not a huge issue. People are not jumping up and down saying they have an issue. It shows thousands of people are saying the experience they have had with JobPath has been entirely positive. Results are what count from our perspective. JobPath was targeted at a results-based approach and the results have been exceeded. A target we gave was 8% and it is currently at an activation level of 4%. My Department and I are very happy with the over-achievement and the treatment provided by and the interaction with JobPath. What speaks volumes is that the vast majority of the 120,000 who have interacted with the offices in the past 12 to 18 months have indicated an 81% satisfaction rate. Some people have had interactions that they have not appreciated. The Deputy and I discussed one case a number of months ago. I have discovered the root of that problem and it will not happen again. Of the 120,000 who have interacted with JobPath, most have an entirely positive outlook and only a tiny number do not. I can only go on results.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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JobPath was set up initially to assist the long-term unemployed. The Minister made reference to a figure of 120,000 people, only a small number of whom have made complaints. The reality is that people are afraid to complain because of the powers JobPath has to stop or curtail payments or withold a portion of a payment. It is not working and there are serious problems in relation to what it was intially set up to do - to get long-term unemployed persons back into work - but it is not doing that. One concern is that Intreo offices are now referring people who are weeks and, in some cases, days unemployed and certainly by no stretch of the imagination long-term unemployed to Turas Nua and Seetec. Another is that people engaged in part-time work such as looking after children or other family members and so on, or other work that suits their needs and means and who only sign on for a couple of days a week are now being referred to JobPath and hounded by Turas Nua and Seetec. When did JobPath cease to be a programme to try to target long-term unemployed persons and become a tool to deal with anybody who signs on to receive jobseeker's allowance?

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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JobPath only looks after the long-term unemployed. The situation described by the Deputy does not occur. If he has actual evidence as opposed to anecdotal statements, I suggest he bring that evidence to me. If it did happen, JobPath would be operating outside the terms of its contract. I have had several discussions with the Deputy on this issue and I am always surprised by his view of an organisation that was contracted to activate persons on a long-term unemployment register and help them to find work and which is actually working, as indicated by the fact that jobs have been found for 14% of those who have attended JobPath programmes, significantly ahead of the 8% target. It is paid only if it achieves a positive result. If it does not find a person a job, it is not paid. It is only paid when it finds a job for a person who has been long-term unemployed. If the Deputy can find statistics which show me that it is working outside its remit, I will deal with the matter. However, he cannot escape the fact that this activation programme was established and sub-contracted to two companies who employ 1,000 Irish people to work with other Irish people who are long-term unempoyed in order to find them jobs. That is being done and the programme is working. Up to 81% of the 120,000 who have been through the doors of Turas Nua and Seetec in the past year have a positive attitude towards the service.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I hear what the Minister is saying, but the evidence I have which I will present to her indicates that the companies are working totally outside the contracts in place. For example, substitute teachers are being forced to attend Seetec and Turas Nua. People straight out of college are being referred to JobPath which is going above and beyond its remit. The Government has privatised an essential service and created a monster which now, because of the nature of the contract in place, needs to be fed. I recognise that unemployment levels are down, but it now appears that, in order to keep feeding the privatised model that has been put in place, others are being looked at such as the short-term unemployed, including teachers and those directly out of college. I have evidence which I will present to the Minister. Substitute teachers who do not know the days they are going to be working and do not have contracts are being hounded by JobPath, Turas Nua and Seetec. The survey the Minister referenced is meaningless. She should engage with the people who are being hounded and fearful that their payments will be stopped. I ask her to carry out a full reboot of the service.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Deputy to allow the Minister to respond. I have been lenient. Deputies must respect the allotted time.

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The service has not been privatised, it has been sub-contracted in the same manner a large number of services in social protection offices across the country have been sub-contracted. Talk of privatisation is ill-informed.

The purpose of this scheme was to help people who were long-term unemployed get meaningful jobs and it is working. A total of 14% of the people who have gone to these people in the past 18 months now have work, whereas we targeted only 8%. There is nobody in terms of the long-term unemployed being hounded.

The survey was anonymous therefore there was nobody unwilling to put down something on a piece of paper with their name for fear, as the Deputy has incorrectly suggested, that they would be hounded. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection is there to support people - we are concerned here with jobseekers - when they do not have work to get back into work. It is not to hound people but to help them, to activate them and to put them on the right path through training and support to make sure they are ready to go to work. It is working, 14% of the 120,000 people who have gone through the doors have got work and 81% have a satisfaction rating of very high.