Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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631. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of referrals to JobPath, community employment schemes and Tús in each of the years 2015 to 2018 and to date in 2019, by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8230/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection 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, Tús and Community Employment (CE). 

The Tús initiative is a community work placement scheme providing short-term working opportunities for unemployed people. These work opportunities benefit the community and are provided by community and voluntary organisations in both urban and rural areas. There are currently 6,500 budgeted places on Tús involved in the delivery of local services.  

The aim of Community Employment is to enhance the employability and mobility of disadvantaged and unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities.  Virtually all participants are engaged in some element of service support and delivery - e.g. amenities management, sports, tidy towns, childcare, etc.. There are currently 921 Community Employment schemes catering for 21,371 participants.

JobPath is a service that supports the long-term unemployed to obtain and sustain paid employment. Between its launch in July 2015 and February 2019, some 209,000 jobseekers have engaged with the service.  The JobPath service is provided for jobseekers only and it's aim is to assist participants in finding sustainable full-time paid employment.

Since the first of June 2018 long term jobseekers engaged with the JobPath service can also apply for either Community Employment or Tús. This enables those people with the JobPath service to avail of a CE or Tús placement which provides valuable occupational activity and work experience. However, continued engagement with the JobPath service is a condition of opting to avail of both schemes.  

Tús and Community Employment do not, nor are they intended to, provide full-time sustainable employment.

Table 1; People engaged with JobPath, Annually, by County, since its introduction in 2015

Table 2; Tús Participants, Annually, by County, since 2015 

Table 3; Community Employment Participants, Annually, by County, since 2015 

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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632. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost of operating community employment schemes, JobPath, Tús and local employment services in each of the years 2015 to 2018 and to date in 2019, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8231/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department 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 Community Employment (CE), Tús, JobPath and Local Employment Schemes (LES). 

The aim of CE is to enhance the employability and mobility of disadvantaged and unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities.  It also helps long-term unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine.  Schemes are typically sponsored by voluntary and community organisations wishing to benefit the local community and virtually all participants are engaged in some element of service support and delivery - e.g. amenities management, arts and culture, sports, tidy towns, childcare and health-related services.  

The Tús initiative is a community work placement scheme providing short-term working opportunities for unemployed people. The work opportunities are to benefit the community and are provided by community and voluntary organisations in both urban and rural areas. The initiative is delivered through the network of local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta in Gaeltacht areas, collectively known as the Implementing Bodies (IBs). The purpose of the scheme is the provision of quality work for those who are unemployed in order to break the cycle of unemployment and to improve a person’s opportunities in returning to the labour market.

JobPath came into operation in July 2015.  The roll-out of JobPath commenced in July 2015 on a “soft launch” basis and was completed in June 2016.JobPath is a case-managed employment service where jobseekers receive intensive individual support to help them address barriers to employment and to find jobs.  The service supports people who are long-term unemployed to obtain and sustain paid employment.  Between July 2015 and February 2019 some 209,000 jobseekers have engaged with the service.

JobPath is a payment by results model and all set-up and day-to-day operational costs are borne by the companies.  The companies are paid on the basis of performance and with the exception of the initial registration fee, payments are made only when a client has achieved sustained employment.  The overall cost of JobPath will be determined by the number of people who participate in the programme and the number who get sustainable jobs.

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. 

Table 1 - Annual expenditure 2015 to date by DEASP programme