Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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483. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the regions which will be prioritised for funding in relation to additional funding for new services in local employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39937/20]

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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484. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the timeframe for the establishment for the recently announced new local employment services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39938/20]

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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485. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the process for choosing the providers of the recently announced new local employment services. [39939/20]

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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486. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the four new additional local employment services to be established will have the same operational basis as the existing community-led local employment services providers across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39940/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 483 to 486, inclusive, together.

My Department is in the process of designing and drafting a request for tender for the provision of additional employment services. This additional provision will be in the areas of the country which currently do not have a Local Employment Service in operation and where the analysis of the Live Register indicates there are sufficient numbers of unemployed individuals to warrant an expansion of the Department's Public Employment Service.

This process is ongoing and it is intended that this request for tenders detailing the regional areas where additional employment service provision is being sought by my Department will be published by the end of the year.

The Department is in receipt of legal advice that the procurement for these services must be competitive and in accordance with public procurement policy. The procurement process will therefore be open to all interested parties.

It is envisioned that, unlike existing LES contracts, these new contracts will be multi-annual in nature and the new services will be in place in the first half of 2021.