Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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322. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the current contracts for the provision of local employment and job clubs services have been extended until the end of August 2022; the number of times that deadlines have been extended in this process; the reason that it has been extended on this occasion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22295/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The provision of contracted employment service provision has been under review by my Department for some time with extensive consultation taking place with the sector since late 2018.

My Department had initially planned that the two phased procurement process for the new Intreo Partners Local Area Employment Service would be completed in 2021, with new services commencing in January 2022. However, at the request of the sector, my Department provided additional time for extensive consultation following Phase 1, which meant that the publication of the Phase 2 RFT was held until late December 2021.

In order to facilitate this extended period of consultation, my Department offered a new 6 month contract to 22 Local Employment Services and 30 Job Club contractors for the provision of activation services until 30th June 2022.

Interested parties were provided additional time to submit their tenders under Phase 2 with the deadline for bids being extended until the 25th April, which reflects the detail of the procurement process. Therefore, to provide further time for the contractors to make appropriate arrangements regarding the existing contracts and to ensure service delivery in the transitionary period, my Department has recently offered a two-month extension of the existing contract(s) for the delivery of employment services. This is an extension of the existing contract(s) for service on the same terms and conditions as the existing contract with a pro-rata value increase until August 31st 2022.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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323. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the jobs that are being protected under the new tendering process for local employment. [22296/22]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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324. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will suspend the process of a new tender for local employment services and establish a formal stakeholder forum and agree a way forward for the provision of these vital services in line with the recommendations from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands, Report on the Examination of Employment Services in November 2021. [22297/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 323 and 324 together.

My Department is currently undertaking a significant expansion of public employment services.  In particular, specialised employment services for those farthest from the labour market - previously available in just twelve counties - will soon be available State-wide for the first time.  

In the first phase of this procurement, contracts for Intreo Partners - Local Area Employment Services (LAES) were agreed in late 2021 across four lots in seven counties in the Midlands and North-East.  These new services are now operational and accepting referrals.  

Phase two of this process is currently ongoing.  The procurement of phase 2 of the Intreo Partners Local Area Employment Services commenced with the publication of the request for tender on 21 December last. Phase 2 included a proportionate increase over Phase 1 in guaranteed referral numbers, calculated on the basis of ensuring the financial viability of the new employment services with due regard to the cost structures of existing Job Clubs and Local Employment Services in the Phase 2 lot areas.

This procurement was preceded by extensive consultation with all stakeholders, but in particular with the community sector providers and with their representative body the ILDN.  Every existing provider was visited on site by my officials and asked for their views on the way forward for the best provision of employment services, there has also been engagement with the staff representative bodies.  In addition, the external consultants engaged by the Department to assist in the restructuring of these services also and separately from the Department consulted with existing providers.

My Department extended the deadline for the Requests for Tenders to 25 April to ensure all interested parties, including the community sector, will have sufficient time to prepare quality tender responses that reflect their experience and capacity to deliver a quality service. 

Following detailed compliance checks, the tenders received will shortly be evaluated in accordance with procurement regulations and the preferred tenderers notified in due course.  My officials will then proceed to finalising contracts with a view to establishing services at the earliest possible date.

My Department has a responsibility to ensure the provision of legally-sound, high quality employment service for everyone who needs them irrespective of their location or how long they have been unemployed.  This process will ensure, for the first time, that people in all parts of the country will have access to the full range of the Public Employment Service offerings.  This expansion in service provision will be operational in quarter 3 of this year.

It is the nature of competitive procurement that the outcomes depend solely on the quality of tenders received.  My Department's focus has been on ensuring that these employment service procurements place great emphasis on service quality, so as to provide the unemployed person with the most appropriate services and enable existing service providers to submit tenders that reflect their experience and expertise.