Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

137. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the status of offices (details supplied) which he funds through the JobPath scheme including the amount he has allocated, the outfitting he has provided, the number of clients he has utilised and the companies he has hired to promote the centre. [19969/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

JobPath is an employment activation service designed to support people who are long-term unemployed and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment. The JobPath service in Mallow is provided under contract by Turas Nua Limited. The office was completely refurbished and fitted out by Turas Nua and is in line with the company’s normal accommodation standards. Referrals to the Mallow office began in early May 2016 and to date over one hundred jobseekers have been referred.

JobPath is a payment by results model and all costs, including the establishment, fit-out and staffing of offices are borne by the companies delivering the service. JobPath is so structured that the companies will not be able to fully recover their costs until they successfully place sufficient numbers of jobseekers into sustained paid employment. It is not intended to publish the individual payments to the JobPath companies as these are commercially sensitive and to do so would place the State at a disadvantage both in terms of the contracts now in place and any future procurement that may be undertaken.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.