Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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655. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of complaints received against the two companies tasked with delivering JobPath since it commenced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50271/17]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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656. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons referred to JobPath since its commencement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50272/17]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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657. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the actions her Department has taken when a complaint has been received in relation to JobPath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50273/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 655 to 657, inclusive, together.

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 commenced operations in mid-2015, and reached full State-wide delivery of the service in July 2016.

129,000 Jobseekers have engaged with the service to the end of Oct. ‘17, with 421 complaints received in total. 305 of these were related to Customer Service, 61 involved policy issues, 40 related to client not wishing to engage, 8 Data Protection queries and 7 related to Legislation.

As of 10^thNovember, 55 complaints are currently in the process of being investigated.

My Department logs and records all complaints received in respect of the JobPath service. Strict timeframes apply to the issuing of acknowledgements and responses and these are constantly monitored to ensure adherence.

The contract requires the JobPath provider to respond to all complaints in the first instance. To this end each provider has a comprehensive Complaints Procedure which contains successive levels of escalation, which can be availed of should the client feel the matter has not been adequately addressed. This ensures that complaints are dealt with as comprehensively as possible and at the appropriate level of authority. In the event that a customer has availed of this procedure but remains dissatisfied with the response to their complaint, they may request my Department to carry out a full review of the file and a response and / or recommendations will be issued. Customers may also refer a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman for review once they have exhausted the complaints process but remain dissatisfied.

In the JobPath context, a complaint is defined as “an expression of dissatisfaction, measurable by reference to service standards, and requiring a response.” Issues covered by the complaint process may include delays, mistakes and poor customer service and also complaints made under Sections 25, 26, 27 and 28 of the Disability Act, 2005.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.