Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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125. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the JobsIreland website has been down since July 2016; if his Department will address service issues as the site was the main tool which community employment schemes used to advertise and recruit from; his views on the fact that this has had and is having a negative impact on community employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39371/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Jobsireland.ie is a free online jobs site that enables employers to post job opportunities and jobseekers to search and apply for these opportunities online. The new service has been available since 28th July 2016, replacing an older site that enabled jobseekers to search for job opportunities based on job type and location, but did not facilitate employers to search for suitable jobseekers on the site – they had to rely on candidates finding and applying for a job from among the many thousands hosted on the system.

Accordingly, the Department commissioned the development and implementation of a new service that would enable both employers and jobseekers to search for each other using competencies and skillsets as well as the traditional job-type classifications. As part of the new service, candidate profiles will be automatically matched to job specifications posted by employers with both candidate and the employer notified when a suitable match is found. Candidates can also use the site to apply for the jobs advertised. The system will also integrate with the Department of Social Protection’s Intreo service and will include other new features such as allowing jobseekers to post CVs and video profiles if they wish.

To facilitate the transition to the new service it was necessary to take the service offline for a few days. The service is being implemented on phased basis which means, unfortunately, that there is some service disruption while work is ongoing. There have also been some teething problems with the first phase implementation, but the Department is working with the supplier to resolve these. A significant upgrade was implemented in November 2016. This has resolved many of the teething issues and there has been a noticeable improvement in performance. Further improvements and new functionality will be added over the coming weeks and months.

Video guides are available on the site to assist employers through the various stages of the vacancy creation and advertisement process, including one specifically directed at Community Employment sponsors. To date over 5000 Community Employment vacancies have been advertised on the new site.

Employers or any person experiencing difficulties with the website can contact the Department’s National Contact Centre on 1890 800 024 for assistance. Additional resources have been assigned to expedite queries.