Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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428. To ask the Minister for Social Protection in view of the fac that the IMF ninth report on Ireland observed that unemployment and underemployment stands at 23% and the review called for plans to increase resources through redeployment or by engaging private sector firms should be pursued without delay, the steps being taken to develop Pathways to Work options to include private sector firms to assist, support and complement the current employment and advisory services; when he will publish the CESI report on activation services which was commissioned in November 2012; and when tenders will be issued for activation and support services under Pathways to Work. [24068/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I refer the Deputy to my answer to his Questions Nos. 110 to 112, inclusive, of 8 May.

As I stated, the Pathways to Work policy provides for more regular and on-going engagement with jobseekers to enable them to return to employment through the provision of the most appropriate support interventions. In order to increase activation capacity the Department is considering the contracting of employment services to complement the existing capacity of the department. In that regard, the Department engaged the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (CESI) in November 2012 to provide expert advice and assistance with the design and delivery of a contracted employment service model. The consultants recently produced a report and this is currently being evaluated. I expect the evaluation to be completed in the near future. The question of tendering for the provision of additional activation services will be then considered by Government.

As part of its current employment service provision, the Department already contracts with external providers for the delivery of both the Local Employment Service (LES) and Job Clubs. Employment services, including career planning, engagement with employers and job search assistance, are provided under contract by these organisations to clients who are activated by the Department. The Department funds this contracted provision to the value of approximately €25m per annum and these organisations employ approximately 390 staff, who are engaged in the provision of these services.

In addition, the Department intends to significantly increase its own complement of activation case workers by redeploying staff from other activities. The number of such case workers should rise from c.300 to c.600 by the end of the year.