John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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566. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of JobPath participants who have taken up another scheme (details supplied) as permitted since June 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4108/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department operates a number of employment support programmes including Community Employment (CE) and Tús. These schemes help to break the cycle of unemployment, provide work experience and improve a person’s chances of returning to the labour market.

As the Deputy is aware, customers of my Department who are engaged with the JobPath service have, from 1st June 2018, the option of taking up a placement on Community Employment (CE) and Tús while continuing to engage with the JobPath service. This change ensures that jobseekers can benefit from the job-seeking support of the JobPath service while also availing of a part-time work placement provided by Tús or CE.

My Department's records indicate that up to end of December 2018, 953 persons engaged on JobPath have taken up places on CE and 673 of those engaged on JobPath have started with Tús.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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567. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons referred to JobPath since it commenced; and the number of persons who have been referred to JobPath for a second time. [4109/19]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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568. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount spent on JobPath in 2018. [4110/19]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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582. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons who have commenced employment through the JobPath scheme by county since its introduction in tabular form. [4376/19]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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584. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons engaged with JobPath by county; and the number of those with a penalty rate in place by county in tabular form. [4424/19]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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585. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons engaged with JobPath since its introduction in 2015; and the number of penalty rates applied in each county over the same period by county in tabular form. [4425/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 567, 568, 582, 584 and 585 together.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) provides a range of activation supports catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market to secure and sustain full-time paid employment. These supports include the JobPath service.

JobPath is a service that supports people who are long-term unemployed to obtain and sustain paid employment. The service was launched in 2015 on a ‘rolling basis’ with referral numbers gradually increasing over time. Between July 2015 and January 2019 some 205,000 jobseekers had engaged with the service.

My Department selects clients for the JobPath service by means of a random selection process and protocols for selection currently preclude the selection of anyone who has already completed 52 weeks with the JobPath service within the previous four months. If, however, at the end of this period the jobseeker has not engaged in other activation supports and services they then become eligible for selection for a second period of activation on the JobPath programme.

To date just over 21,000 jobseekers have commenced a second engagement period with the service, having availed of the service previously.

Jobseekers referred for a second time will start working with a Personal Advisor, who will review their development during their previous time with the service and together they will prepare a new personal progression plan to build on that progress. The actions and tasks agreed will be based on their previous engagement, with particular focus on the identified barriers, which are preventing the person moving into full time suitable employment.

Between July 2015 and January 2019 approximately 14,000 Jobseekers had a penalty rate applied to their payment at some point during their engagement period with the JobPath service.

These are broken down by county in table 1.

There are currently some 79,000 people engaged with the service, of which 432, or 0.5% have a current penalty rate applied to their payment. This figure is consistent with the overall level of penalty rate applied across all Job Seekers.

These are broken down by county in table 2.

JobPath providers do not apply or recommend the application of a penalty rate of payment. They simply advise my Department if a jobseeker is failing to attend activation meetings. Officials in my Department then contact the Jobseeker and seek to arrange a meeting to discuss the matter directly with them. The application of penalty rates is entirely a matter for my Department and officials involved will take all relevant factors into account.

In the interests of natural justice, a jobseeker who fails to participate in the activation process, whether that is provided directly by the Intreo Service or via a contracted service provider, is given both written and verbal warnings and an opportunity to comply before a reduced rate of payment is applied. Furthermore, Jobseekers can, through co-operation with the activation service of my Department, benefit from early re-instatement of the full rate of Jobseeker’s payment.

The legislation underpinning the application of reduced rates of payment is provided for in the Social Welfare Act 2010. All decisions on the application of reduced rates of payment are made by Deciding Officers and are based on all the available evidence and the circumstances of each case. The Jobseeker can appeal the Deciding Officer’s decision through the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO).

Reduced rates are only applied where a job seeker fails to engage as requested, and following at least two warnings, with the Department’s employment services.

To date, some 46,000 jobseekers have commenced employment during their engagement period with JobPath as set out in table 3.

There are two phases to the Jobpath service. During the first phase, of 12 months duration, a personal advisor (PA) provides practical assistance in searching, preparing for, securing and sustaining employment. The second phase starts if the jobseeker is successful in finding work. During this phase the PA continues to work with the client for a further period of up to 12 months. In addition to the two phases jobseekers may also undertake training while with the service and this may extend the period the jobseeker is supported through the service for up to a further 6 months.

It should be noted that the figures presented in Table 3 are representative of the entire cohort of JobPath clients between July 2015 and January 2019 and all Job starts in the same period. Many clients who are currently engaged with JobPath are still in the first phase of the service and will not have had sufficient time with the service to have gained employment. It is expected that this performance will improve as more clients complete their engagement with the service

I trust that this clarifies matter for the deputy.

Table 1: People engaged with JobPath since its introduction in 2015

Table 2: Jobseekers currently engaged with JobPath who currently have a penalty rate applied.

Table 3: Jobseekers engaged with JobPath who have commenced employment July 2015- January 2019