Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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384. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) dealing with Turas Nua cannot accept an offer of employment from north Tipperary Leader partnership in view of the fact they are on a job programme with Turas Nua; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44618/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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JobPath is one of a range of activation supports, including schemes such as Community Employment (CE) and Tús, catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers. Referral to JobPath is by random selection and is generally for a 52-week period. Jobseekers who are already participating with the JobPath service will not be referred to Tús as they can only participate with one activation scheme or service at a time. This allows the scheme and service providers sufficient time to work with the participants in order to develop their skills and competencies to pursue suitable job opportunities which may result in sustainable employment and also to ensure that the best use is made of the available places on all activation supports.

Where a Jobseeker has been referred to the JobPath programme, placement on CE, Tús or Gateway will only be permitted if there is written confirmation of an offer that predates the JobPath referral date and an agreed start date on the work scheme within four weeks of the JobPath referral date.

The person concerned was referred to the JobPath programme on 12 August 2017; was subsequently offered a place on the Tipperary Leader Partnership Tús programme on 23 August 2017 with a confirmed start date of 18 September 2017. As this offer did not pre-date the JobPath referral and the start date was not within four weeks of the referral, the offer does not meet the specific criteria required to allow them to take up this placement.

While Tús schemes provide long-term unemployed people with part-time experience as a stepping stone back to employment, they are not full-time sustainable jobs. Participation on a Tús scheme remains an option for Jobseekers if they continue to be unemployed at the end of their engagement with the JobPath service.

Participants with JobPath receive intensive individual support to help overcome barriers to employment and to find jobs. Each person is assigned a personal advisor who assesses their skills, experience, challenges and work goals and agrees a “personal progression plan” that includes a schedule of activities, including relevant training and educational programmes to assist them in finding full-time sustainable employment. There are no barriers to any participants pursuing training, including further education and training courses, providing they are relevant to the agreed personal progression plan.

I am confident that the person concerned will derive benefit from participation and would encourage them to continue to engage with the JobPath service to ensure progress on their journey back to full time employment.

I hope this clarifies matters.