Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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71. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who have engaged with a company (details supplied) as part of JobPath to date; the success levels of these placements; if staff of JobPath subcontractors are subject to the same rigorous data protection laws as departmental staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35721/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, JobPath is an employment activation service that supports people who are long-term unemployed and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment.

Some 30,000 jobseekers have started their JobPath engagement with Seetec. The service was rolled out on a phased basis from mid-2015 and the first groups of participants have only recently completed their engagement period with the service. Data in respect of these participants is currently being compiled and the number of job placements is expected to be available in the coming weeks.

Employees of Seetec, and their subcontractors, are subject to the same data protection laws as departmental staff. The JobPath companies may use jobseekers’ data only for the purposes of delivering employment services for the Department. Data is transmitted securely from the Department to the companies using secure Departmental approved transmission channels. Both companies store client personal data only in Ireland. No personally identifiable client information is stored outside Ireland. Both companies undertook independent audits of their data processes and procedures as part of their contractual obligations. They are registered with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and are subject to the provisions of data protection legislation.