Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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197. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that a company (details supplied) contracted by her Department to provide Jobpath services is demanding that users register with a London-based company. [40865/17]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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198. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she has satisfied herself that no data protection concerns arise from the demand by a company (details supplied) contracted by her department to provide jobpath services that users register with a London based company. [40866/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 197 and 198 together.

Ireland’s Public Employment Service (PES) is managed by my Department and delivered directly by its own Intreo service as well as by contracted private providers i.e. companies delivering the Local Employment Service (LES), Job Clubs and JobPath services. These providers act on behalf of the Department for the purpose of delivering these services and are subject to strict obligations imposed by the Department in terms of data protection.

The purpose of sharing information is to assist in the development of tailored plans for individual jobseekers in order to support them back into paid employment.

JobPath providers may use jobseekers’ data only for the purposes of delivering employment services for the Department. Both companies undertake regular independent audits of their data processes and procedures as part of their contractual obligations.

Employees of Seetec, and their subcontractors, are subject to the same data protection laws as departmental staff.

JobPath providers are contractually required to register with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. Data protection legislation requires that personal data shall be kept only for one or more specified and lawful purposes and that personal data shall be used and disclosed only in ways compatible with these purposes. The legislation also requires that the data should be adequate, relevant and not excessive. Any suspected breach of the data protection legislation will be investigated by the Department and may also be a matter for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

Abintegro is a job-seeking aid that has various tools and features, such as a library of video tutorials, a CV builder, a cover letter building tool, advice on completing job applications and has been designed to support jobseekers in obtaining employment. The use of this aid is optional for jobseekers engaged with the JobPath service.