Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

342. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of job applications per week a person on JobPath's Seetec scheme will have to make; and the number of interviews they must attend. [17512/17]

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

A jobseeker’s payment is conditional on a person seeking employment and being willing to take up suitable employment. To satisfy this condition, it is necessary for a person to take positive action and make genuine efforts to secure employment.

Participants on JobPath receive intensive individual support to help them tackle barriers to employment and to assist them in finding full-time paid sustainable employment. Each person is assigned to a personal adviser who assesses a person’s skills, experience, challenges and work goals. The personal adviser and the participant agree a personal progression plan that includes a schedule of activities, actions and job-focused targets which may include submitting regular job applications and attending job interviews as and when invited.

As each individual is unique and has difference requirements, there is no set number of job applications or interviews a customer must attend. Some customers who are further from the labour market may require additional support to be in a position to actively apply for work.

Suitability of employment is a key factor when customers are encouraged to submit job applications and attend interviews. If customers are placed into unsuitable jobs they are less likely to remain in employment with the consequence that the JobPath provider will not be entitled to claim a job sustainment fee.