Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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29. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans for the future of the JobPath programme. [30676/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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On the 22 October I announced the extension of referrals to the JobPath service for a further twelve months until the end of 2021. This was announced in conjunction with similar commitments to ensure contracts for the Local Employment Services, Job Clubs and EmployAbility would also be extended into 2021. I also announced that my Department was expanding its own capacity with the allocation of an additional 300 staff to support the Public Employment Service, and of these 100 are to be assigned as job coaches.

These measures were taken in order to expand the capacity of my Department's Public Employment Service to ensure that we are in a position to support all those who have lost their employment arising from the economic impact of the pandemic. In light of these circumstances it was therefore absolutely necessary for my Department to retain the existing contracted public employment service capacity.

It was originally envisaged that new services would be procured from 2021. However, this has been delayed due to the impact of Covid-19. Given the volume of people impacted by the pandemic, a premium was put on having stable, well-established employment services in place in 2021, when a significant number of individuals are expected to need the support and advice of the public employment service.

My Department is continuing to examine procurement options for all contracted public employment services and commissioned an external review of the Department's Public Employment Service to assist in this process. This review has been referred to the Labour Market Advisory Council for their consideration.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.