Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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52. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to review the JobPath programme in view of the ongoing decline in the live register and the level of unemployment declining rapidly below official projections; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39645/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Ireland’s Public Employment Service (PES) is managed by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) and delivered directly by its own Intreo service as well as by contracted private companies, such as JobPath, Local Employment Service (LES) and Job Club providers. With JobPath the Department has procured additional resources to enable it to provide a high quality case managed employment support service to people who are long term unemployed and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed. The JobPath service was designed to augment and complement the Department’s existing employment service capacity, including that provide by LES. The additional capacity provided through the JobPath service has allowed the Department to provide the type and intensity of services required by Jobseekers, particularly those most distant from the labour market.

Prior to the introduction of Intreo and JobPath the Department had a case officer to live register ratio of approximately 1,500:1 compared to international benchmarks of less than 200:1. Today with the reduction in the unemployment rate and the increase in capacity, both internally through Intreo and externally through JobPath, the ratio has reached the upper limit of the international norms and is continuing to trend downwards. JobPath continues to play a key role in the delivery of the services required by Jobseekers and is likely to do so for the next couple of years.

It will take time to accumulate a sufficient number of clients (who have completed their engagement period with the service) for complete and robust outcome data to be available. With this in mind, it is intended that an econometric evaluation of the service will commence at the end of 2017.

The Department has however commenced publishing reports on the performance of the service on a quarterly basis, with the most recent report having been published at the beginning of the month. The report can be accessed on the Department’s website.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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53. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will review the JobPath scheme in view of the numbers that have been sanctioned through the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39687/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the deputy will be aware, the State’s Public Employment Service is managed by my Department and delivered directly by its own Intreo service as well as by contracted private companies, such as JobPath, Local Employment Service and Job Club providers. The Department has contracts in place with in excess of 60 companies for the provision of these services. This includes two contracts with JobPath service providers. The JobPath service commenced operations in mid-2015, and reached full State-wide delivery of service in July 2016. Almost 120,000 Jobseekers have commenced with the service to date. Of the 120,000 clients who engaged with the service, approximately 7000, or 5.8%, have had a penalty rate applied to their payment at some stage. It should be noted however that some of these clients may have had a penalty rate applied after finishing their engagement period with the JobPath service, so the actual number who have had a penalty rate applied while with the JobPath service is likely to be slightly lower.

It is important to note that the rules and processes for the application of a reduced rate of payment are the same across all of the Department’s employment services whether they are delivered directly by the Department’s own Intreo service or through its contracted services.

It should also be noted that only a Departmental official (not contractor’s staff) can make such a decision.

The process with regards to such decisions includes written/verbal warnings and an opportunity for the jobseeker to re-engage with the services prior to the application of a reduced payment rate.