John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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610. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons referred to JobPath in each of the years 2015 to 2018 and to date in 2019. [39848/19]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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611. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount paid to JobPath providers since 2015. [39849/19]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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612. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons that commenced employment through JobPath since its introduction; and the number of those sustained in that employment for 13, 26, 39 and 52 weeks, respectively. [39850/19]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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613. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of part-time jobs commenced through JobPath since its introduction. [39851/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 610 to 613, inclusive, together.

The primary purpose of JobPath is to provide a case management based, employment advice and counselling service to long term unemployed jobseekers. Between July 2015 and September 2019, some 241,346 jobseekers had commenced their engagement period with the JobPath service, see table 1.  Of this number, 52% were unemployed for over three years.  This group, in particular, faces significant barriers when seeking to enter or return to employment in the labour market.

To date, some 55,490 jobseekers have commenced employment during their engagement period with JobPath.  Of this number, 49,660 had commenced full-time employment and 5,830 had commenced part-time employment.  It should be noted that many clients who are currently engaged with JobPath are still in the first phase of the service. They have not had sufficient time with the service to have gained employment nor sustain that employment for up to 52 weeks.  The measure of performance will improve as more clients complete their engagement with the service and have a chance to reach 52 weeks in employment.

JobPath is a payment by results model and all set-up and day-to-day operational costs are borne by the contractors.  The contractors 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 total of fees claimed by the JobPath providers from 2015 to date is €202.2m.

The recent econometric review of JobPath undertaken by my Department in partnership with the OECD noted that the weekly employment earnings of people who secured employment with the JobPath service are 17% higher than the weekly employment earnings of people who secured employment without the support of JobPath in 2018. Taken with the 26% improvement in employment outcomes in the same period, it means the overall positive employment/earnings impact is 37% in 2018 for those supported by the JobPath service.  These findings indicate that jobseekers who engage with JobPath are significantly more likely to get a positive employment outcome than those not supported by the service.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.  

Table 1: Jobseekers referred to JobPath by year