Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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948. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her future plans regarding the employability service which supports people in the community who have a disability, illness, injury or mental health issue in returning or starting in employment; the funding level; the number of people employed in delivering the services; the number of people helped by the services in each of the past ten years in each of the centres; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18294/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Employment services for people with disabilities are currently provided by 23 EmployAbility service providers across the State on behalf on my Department.  My officials are preparing a procurement process to update current EmployAbility service contracts in order to comply with legal advice from the Attorney General and Chief State Solicitor’s Office and to meet the Department’s objective of shifting emphasis from financial monitoring of Service Providers to focusing on service quality for clients.

It is not the intention of this procurement to significantly change the nature of the services currently provided to clients, reflecting the overall effectiveness of the current service.  Independent reviews undertaken of the service provision found that they were broadly satisfactory.

The proposed new EmployAbility contract model aims to enhance the autonomy of the service providers giving them control over financial and staffing decisions to enable them to more effectively provide a high-quality employment service for people with disabilities.

Stakeholder engagement is a key aspect of this procurement and my officials have met with each EmployAbility service provider in recent months to discuss the planned procurement process.  This engagement will continue until the publication of the request for tender, planned for later this year.

It is in everyone’s interests that my Department continues to provide a quality employment service for people with disabilities and they will continue to work with all stakeholders on the best way to achieve this while ensuring contracts are legally compliant.

The 23 EmployAbility Service Providers currently employ approximately 165 staff, of whom some 122 are job coaches.  The service has an active caseload nationally at any one time of about 3,000 clients (or an equivalent turnover of circa 2,000 clients per year).  The specific information requested by the Deputy is not readily available.  In 2023, the total contract value of the 23 EmployAbility service providers is €10.9 million. 

I trust this clarifies the matter for the deputy.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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949. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether any assessment was carried out of the effects the enforced closure of Employability West at the end of 2021 had on those who were dependent on its tailored services which supported people in the community who have a disability, illness, injury or mental health issue in returning or starting in employment; if they managed to continue their employment unsupported, linked in with other equivalent services, or remained at home; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18295/23]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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950. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will increase funding to ensure that the supports that the employability services delivers is enhanced and rolled out on a local basis where a demand for such services are; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18296/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 949 and 950 together.

My Department has contracts with 23 service providers for the provision of an Employability service across the State.  In 2023, the total contract value for those contracts is approximately €10.9 million.

The decision of the board of Employability West to cease operations and to decline the Department’s offer of a contact for the provision of services in 2022 was disappointing but entirely a decision of that Board and not in any way enforced by the Department.  Other EmployAbility service providers in the Dublin area were in a position to ensure continuity of services in West Dublin.  No specific assessment was undertaken on the impact of the closure of EmployAbility West.

Engagement with EmployAbility service is entire voluntary and there are currently very short waiting lists for the service. 

My officials are preparing a procurement process to update current EmployAbility service contracts in order to comply with legal advice from the Attorney General and Chief State Solicitor’s Office and to meet the Department’s objective of shifting emphasis from financial monitoring of Service Providers to focusing on service quality for clients.

It is not the intention of this procurement to significantly change the nature of the services currently provided to clients, reflecting the overall effectiveness of the current service. Independent reviews undertaken of the service provision found that they were broadly satisfactory.

The proposed new EmployAbility contract model aims to enhance the autonomy of the service providers giving them control over financial and staffing decisions to enable them to more effectively provide a high-quality employment service for people with disabilities.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.