Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1228. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount paid to a company (details supplied) by her Department since the beginning of its contract in summer 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46328/17]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1229. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons who have remained in sustainable employment for more than 12 months after having been initially referred by her Department to a company (details supplied). [46329/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1228 and 1229 together.

It is not intended to publish the individual payments to the JobPath companies as these are commercially sensitive and to do so would place the State at a disadvantage both in terms of the contracts currently in place and in any future procurement that may be undertaken.

JobPath is a payment by results model and all initial costs are borne by the companies.

The payments made are in respect of registration fees, paid for clients who have completed a personal progression plan, and fees paid for sustained employment outcomes of 13, 26, 39 and 52 weeks duration. The overall cost will be determined by the number of people who engage with the service and the number of jobseekers who successfully obtain and sustain employment.

The total amount paid in fees from the outset of the service in July 2015 up to the end of September 2017 is €71.2m.

As the Deputy will be aware, JobPath is a service that supports people who are long-term unemployed and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment. The service is delivered by two companies, Seetec and Turas Nua.

The service was rolled out on a phased basis over the period mid-2015 to July 2016. The numbers referred initially were low but this has increased with some 124,000 customers having commenced with the service by 30 September. In addition, Jobseekers may be supported through the service for up to 30 months. Under the service jobseekers have access to a personal adviser who works with them over two phases. During the first phase, of 12 months duration, the PA provides practical assistance in searching, preparing for, securing and sustaining employment. The second phase starts if the jobseeker is successful in finding work. During this phase the PA continues to work with the jobseeker for a further period of at least three months, and up to 12 months. In addition to the two phases, jobseekers may also undertake training while with the service and this may extend the period the jobseeker is supported through the service for up to a further 6 months.

It will therefore take time to accumulate data on a sufficient number of clients who have completed their engagement period with the service for complete and robust outcome data to be available.

However my Department has commenced publishing initial cohort reports on the performance of the service on a quarterly basis. I can confirm that the next quarterly report will be published in the coming weeks.

The most recent report, which details the performance outcomes for three jobseeker cohorts - Q3 and Q4 2015, and Q1 2016 is available on the Department’s website at

It is important to note that the outcomes for each cohort are updated every time these reports are published, to take account of job sustainment’s that have been validated since the last publication date.

The current report provides outcome figures such as job starts and 13 and 26 week job sustainments in respect of jobseekers referred to the service during the period July 2015 – March 2016. As the number of people who have completed their engagement period with the service increases the department will be in a position to provide greater detail in each cohort report - this will include performance outcome statistics for 39 week and eventually 52 week job sustainments.

The initial cohort reports are encouraging, for example, employment outcome data shows that compared to people who did not take part in the service; people who availed of the service are up to 34% more likely to have gained employment. As the initial reports are based on a small number of people who have completed their full engagement period with the service these results should be treated with caution. However the published data contains a range of information which may assist the Deputy in gaining an overview of the performance of the service to date.

It is intended that a full econometric evaluation of the service will commence at the end of 2017, following which more detailed and robust statistics will be available.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.