Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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957. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a person has a right to refuse a place on JobPath in favour of a place on a community employment scheme; if there is a legal or statutory impediment that prevents a person from deciding to opt for a community employment scheme over a place on JobPath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12309/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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All Jobseekers on the live register must be capable of; available for and actively seeking full time employment, they are also required to engage with the Department’s activation services whether the service is provided internally by an Intreo case officer or externally by one of the contracted providers e.g. JobPath providers and Local Employment Service providers. The Social Welfare (Consolidated) Act 2005, as amended, specifies that participation in activation meetings is mandatory.

The JobPath service is one of a number of employment activation services provided for people who are long-term unemployed to help them secure and sustain full-time paid employment. All jobseekers over one year on the Live Register are eligible for selection for the JobPath service and clients are chosen by means of a random selection process. Schemes such as Community Employment Schemes (CE) provide long-term unemployed people with part-time experience as a stepping stone back to employment but they are not full-time sustainable jobs.

Once a jobseeker is referred to JobPath, they must complete the requisite time with the service. This is necessary to allow the jobseeker to get the optimum benefit; it allows the JobPath service providers’ sufficient time to work with the jobseeker to develop skills and competencies. CE participants are not referred to JobPath for the duration of their placement on the scheme.

Where a jobseeker on the date of their referral to JobPath, has received an offer of a placement on a CE Scheme with a start date within 4 weeks, they will be facilitated to take up the placement if they wish. The four week time frame may be extended if there is a delay due to Garda vetting requirements.

When a jobseeker has completed their JobPath referral or CE placement without finding a full time job, they will be provided with follow up activation support based on an assessment by an Intreo Case officer, and jobseekers who have completed a year with the JobPath service and are not engaged with another activation support will become eligible for referral to the JobPath service again after at least 4 months.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy