Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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14. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if persons on jobseeker's payments are obliged to pursue the JobPath Seetec route if called upon to do so by her Department or if they have a choice not to go this route; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19215/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The role of the Department is not just to provide a jobseeker payment to people who are unfortunate enough to be unemployed, but also to provide assistance and support to unemployed jobseekers to help them secure employment. Central to this approach is the concept of ‘claim and commitment’. Jobseekers have a right to claim an income support from the State but also have a responsibility to commit to engaging with the employment services offered by the State whether those services are provided directly by the Department’s own staff or by staff contracted through the Local Employment Services or JobPath and working as agents of the Department.

The concept of rights and responsibilities is reflected in legislation. The Social Welfare (Consolidated) Act 2005, as amended, specifies that participation in activation meetings is mandatory, therefore jobseekers in receipt of a jobseekers payment are required to engage with the Department’s activation services whether, as I have indicated, the service is provided internally by an Intreo case officer or, externally by any of the contracted providers.Therefore once a jobseeker is referred to JobPath, they must engage with the service. All jobseekers who have been unemployed for more than a year are eligible for selection for the JobPath service and clients are chosen by means of a random selection process.

This is in the best interests of the jobseekers themselves as evidence internationally is that job search assistance and employment counselling is the most effective form of support in terms of improving employment outcomes. Data published by the Department indicates that employment outcomes among those who engage with the JobPath service are higher than those who have not been referred to the service. In addition independent research among JobPath participants indicates a high level of satisfaction with the service.

The Deputy will be aware that I recently announced that clients of my Department who are engaged with the JobPath will from 1 June have the option of applying for CE and Tús placement while continuing to engage with JobPath. This will ensure that jobseekers can benefit from the job-seeking support of JobPath while also availing of a part-time work placement via Tús or CE. This should address some of the concerns raised with me and also further improve employment outcomes.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.