Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleagues, Deputies Denise Mitchell and John Brady, on producing a report on JobPath. Several months ago, I and Senator Ó Clochartaigh, along with a number of other Senators, raised in the House what can only be described as the swindle taking place in the JobPath scheme. I want the Minister to come to the House to answer some straightforward questions on the scheme. For example, why will up to €340 million be given to private companies over six years to exploit - that is the only word I can use - the most vulnerable people in our communities? The scheme gives ownership of these people to the two private companies operating JobPath. In 2017 alone, €65 million was spent on the scheme, which is not working for individuals.

People are being required to bypass their local employment service and travel miles upon miles to centres where JobPath offices are located.JobPath offices then take complete ownership of the individuals and do not allow them to sign up for any other scheme or anything available to them in their area. I want the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to come to the House immediately to answer my questions. What will be done tomorrow morning if the contract with the private companies is cut off? What are the penalties? Let us have some transparency regarding the original flawed contract which is subject to the height of secrecy. What has been done with JobPath is a swindle; it is one of the greatest debacles of the decade and I thank my colleagues for exposing it today.