Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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638. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the engagements she has had on the tender for local employment services. [8701/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department is procuring a new Intreo Partners Local Area Employment Service over two distinct phases.

Phase one of the process for procuring new employment services involved seven counties in the Midlands and North West which were without a Local Employment Service.  Contracts were signed last December and these services are now operating.

Phase two of the process has now commenced, with the publication in December of a request for tender for seventeen lots covering 19 counties. 

Throughout the process of preparing this new procurement of employment services, my focus and the focus of my officials has been on ensuring the long-term unemployed throughout the State have access to quality employment services.  Given the partial geographical coverage of the existing services and their decades-old contractual basis with associated legal deficiencies, significant reforms were required to make these services available, throughout the State, in a manner that is consistent with the Department's legal obligations.

Prior to the issuing of the request for tender in December 2021, my Department had over 140 separate engagements with stakeholders, including visiting every Local Employment Service and Job Club provider.  Since the conclusion of the Phase 1 process, my Department has engaged with the relevant stakeholders with a focus on learning from the first phase of procurement with a view to incorporating feedback into the second phase of procurement.  

My Department hosted two information sessions for interested tenderers following the publication of both requests for tender (RFT) to date for the Intreo Partner Local Area Employment Service. In addition, last November my officials hosted a webinar that attracted over 150 stakeholders, where a presentation on the procurement process was followed by a 90-minute question and answer session and an invitation to submit views on Phase 1.

As Minister, I also have had several discussions with the ILDN and representatives acting on their behalf where future employment service provision was discussed.