Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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34. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to establish a stakeholder forum which would include community organisations, service users, elected representatives, workers’ representatives and academics in view of the ongoing issues in relation to the planned move to a tendering model for local employment services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48654/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department is now at an advanced stage in its first phase of procuring new employment services. This phase involves the procurement of regional employment services for seven counties in the Midlands and North-West across four lots. These counties do not have an existing local employment service and represent the first phase of an expansion of similar employment services across.

The Phase two procurement, which will see the Regional Employment Service model rolled out across the State will take on board the learnings of the first phase. This procurement process follows extensive consultations by my Department with the existing service providers and employee representatives over the last number of years.

Officials in my Department also visited every Local Employment Service and Job Club in 2019 to get their views on the design of a new employment service model. Many of the suggestions made then, including multi-annual contracts and greater financial autonomy, were incorporated into the Regional Employment Service model.

In addition, the external consultants engaged by the Department in late 2019 engaged a cross-section of relevant stakeholders, including academics, before drafting their report.

The existing Local Employment Service contracts are no longer consistent with current best practices. Good governance therefore requires that my Department delivers a new model of employment services which entails enhanced key performance indicators and better visibility of the work of employment service providers.

My officials will continue the ongoing dialogue with the stakeholders and employee representatives and will consult further with them before finalising the Phase two procurement. However, my Department must adhere to its public procurement obligations and procure these new high-quality employment services in an open and competitive manner that is fair to all interested parties.

The Regional Employment Service model seeks to procure across the entire State a high-quality employment services targeted at supporting those individuals who are furthest from the labour market. It requires successful tenders to submit bids that focus on the quality of their service offering, the social value of their bid and their ability to access a wide range of supports and services to address the barriers to progression their clients may face.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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35. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will take on board concerns expressed by stakeholders in relation to the proposed reform of local employment services and review her plans in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48441/21]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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54. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will halt the tendering of local employment services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48553/21]

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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64. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the tender processes for local employment services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48538/21]

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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71. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the changes made to the local employment service model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48647/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 35, 54, 64 and 71 together.

My Department is now at an advanced stage in its first phase of a two-phase procurement of new employment services. This procurement process follows extensive consultations by my Department with the existing service providers over the last number of years. The new model will extend high quality employment services across the State, deliver enhanced governance arrangements and provide successful tenderers with greater flexibility to innovate and deliver services for their clients.

Phase two will see the Regional Employment Service model rolled out across the State and will take on board the learnings from the first phase. This is a significant expansion of employment services and will result in State-wide coverage of employment services for those furthest from the labour market for the first time.

The Phase two of this procurement process was to have had this service in place by January 2022. This has now been temporarily postponed giving potential tenderers additional time to prepare to submit collaborative joint bids. My Department is in the process of offering current local employment service and Job Club providers, in the Phase two areas, a new contract for a short period into next year. This will enable continuity of service to our customers, while providing potential tenders additional time to work collaboratively on submitting joint bids. The RFTs for Phase two will issue prior to year end and my Department has written to service providers outlining the revised timelines.

Learnings arising from the Phase one procurement are already being incorporated by my Department in preparing the RFT for the remaining lots for the Regional Employment Service under Phase two. My Department is also in ongoing dialogue with the various service providers and representative groups, including staff representatives and will consult with them further, as appropriate, before finalising the RFT for Phase two.

I understand and appreciate the concerns of the sector at the changes proposed. However, current service providers with a strong track record and an openness to cooperation will be well-placed to submit high-quality tenders for the new services.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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36. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the social clauses that will be applied at the eligibility stage and at the award stage in order to factor in broad policy considerations into the procurement process of the regional employment service request for tender. [48536/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department is now at an advanced stage in its first phase of procuring new employment services. This phase involves the procurement of regional employment services for seven counties in the Midlands and North-West across four lots. These counties do not have an existing local employment service and represent the first phase of an expansion of similar employment services across the State.

This procurement process follows extensive consultations by my Department with the existing service providers over the last number of years.

The Phase two procurement, which will see the Regional Employment Service model rolled out across the State will take on board the learnings of the first phase. This is a significant expansion of employment services and will result in State-wide coverage of employment services for those furthest from the labour market for the first time.

The request for tender for phase 2 will be published in due course and, until then, it is not possible to discuss in detail specific aspects of the select or award criteria of the RFT.

Nevertheless, I have already put on the record that the procurement process for the Regional Employment Service places a strong emphasis on the quality of employment services to be delivered by successful tenders. In addition, tenderers are asked to clearly demonstrate how they will add social value and through stakeholder networks how they will ensure their clients can avail of the most appropriate local services to deliver the support they require.