Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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1223. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) was targeted for inclusion in the JobPath scheme run by a company; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24652/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will know the JobPath activation service is to help long term unemployed jobseekers to find sustainable full time work. Selection for referral to JobPath is by means of system based stratified random sampling; the objective being to ensure equity in selection and also that people referred to JobPath are a representative of the long-term cohort on the Live Register.

The duration of a person's jobseekers claim is recorded in terms of days of unemployment, any two such periods not separated by more than 52 weeks are considered to be the same continuous period of unemployment - this is known as linking the claims. Long-term jobseekers that may have left the live register to go into employment for less than a year are still considered to be long-term if they reopen their claim within that 52 week period which is the case for the customer concerned. The linking of claims allows the client to retain certain entitlements (for example no waiting days and other supplemental benefits) and they are also available for selection for activation services including JobPath.

For those people who are referred to the JobPath service after a short period of work, the support and assistance of their personal advisor will ensure that the skills and experience they have gained in the job are built on if necessary and that they are factored into all future job applications.