Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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377. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands Examination of Employment Services November 2021 will be implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58314/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I have received a copy of the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands entitled 'Examination of Employment Services'. As requested in one of the recommendations of the report, I will respond formally to the report in due course once I have had the opportunity to fully reflect upon it.

I appreciate the Joint Committee's strong interest in employment services and their engagement with both myself and my officials as they considered their findings. However, I note that there are some inaccuracies in the report, where evidence from other witnesses to the Committee are repeated and are not factually accurate. One such example is the suggestion that my Department had not engaged with SIPTU prior to the 17th September 2021. My Department first met with SIPTU on this issue in 2019 and have had other meetings in advance of the 17th September 2021.

I look forward to responding to the Joint Committee in detail on their recommendations. It is clear we are all seeking to provide the best route to employment for those people who face serious and continuing challenges to returning to the labour market.

However, given the need to expand employment service provision across the State, to strengthen governance in the delivery of employment service provision and to ensure that such provision is placed on a sound legal-footing, thereby meeting the State's legal obligations, my Department must procure employment services provision in an open and competitive manner.

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.

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 partners and employee representatives over the last number of years.

I fully agree with the Deputy in regards to he complexity of the issues involved in getting persons into the workforce. These new employment service models are part of the creation of a coherent client journey whereby the client receives the right service at the right time in their efforts to return to the labour market.

The Regional Employment Service is specifically designed for clients farthest from the labour market and its request for tender has been designed accordingly with a strong emphasis on the quality of service, inviting tenderers to demonstrate their ability to engage with these clients.

This is why the RES model requires tenderers not to bid below a certain threshold. The Department believes it is necessary to provide a high quality service and this is why approximately ninety per cent of average fees will be paid for client commencement and personal progression and are unrelated to an employment outcome.

While recognising the challenges of engaging with clients farthest from the labour market, best practices in this area require the measurement of progress and an employment service ultimately measures its progress by the numbers who secure employment. The Regional Employment Service will therefore measure progression into employment but will also measure other key performance indicators.