John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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538. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of job starts commenced through the local employment service in 2016, 2017 and to date in 2018. [51877/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Department contracts for the provision of the local employment service (LES) with 22 local development/community companies. The LES have been engaged to deliver services to two client groups: unemployed jobseekers referred for activation by the Department and ‘other’ client groups, who attend the service voluntarily.  The ‘other’ client  group include people who have a disability, lone parents, early school leavers, qualified adults, non-Live Register returners (previously women returners), ex-offenders, members of the travelling community, long term unemployed (LTU) refugees and low income small holders. 

In 2016, LES providers were asked to increase the frequency with which they engage with activation jobseekers to enhance the quality of the services they provide. To facilitate this more intensive engagement, the Department began to reduce the number of people referred to the LES so as to achieve and maintain a maximum caseload 120:1 per case officer.

The LES were also requested to increase the time they allocate to work with each individual jobseeker and in 2017 set engagement patterns were introduced so that a LES case officer with 101-120 clients would be expected to have monthly meetings with the clients, 81-100 clients every three weeks and 80 or fewer client every two weeks.

The following table below shows the number of activation clients and ‘other’ clients notified as commencing employment of 30+ hours per week in 2016, 2017 and to date in 2018.

*Unlike JobPath there is no requirement for the client to be 'off benefit' in order to qualify as a placement.