Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1020. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons annually, by county, who have been sanctioned for not fully and-or in part engaging with employment activation programmes; and if she will provide a separate table by service provider in which the sanction arose from. [11510/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is committed, under Pathways to Work, to encourage the take-up of employment support opportunities, including implementing reduced rates for non-engagement with the Intreo Employment Service. Reduced rates were introduced in 2011 as a means of encouraging jobseekers to cooperate with efforts of the Department to assist them in securing employment.

Entitlement to a jobseeker payment is dependent on the recipient being available for, capable of and genuinely seeking work. This reflects the concept of ‘rights and responsibilities’ whereby people who are unemployed have the right to an income support from the State and a right to be supported in their efforts to secure employment, but also have a responsibility to seek employment and to engage with the employment services offered by the State.

Intreo Employment Services supports jobseekers to find work and there are a wide range of supports on offer in terms of further education, training, upskilling, work placements as well as programmes such as Community Employment and TUS.

A reduced rate is a final step in a process to encourage a jobseeker to avail of the employment supports on offer and once a jobseeker resumes engagement the reduced rate is lifted immediately. Whether a reduced rate applies, and the duration of its application is totally within the control of the claimant.

It is not possible to provide a breakdown on the reason why the reduced rate was applied or the service provider in which the sanction arose. The decision to apply a reduced rate can only be made by a Deciding Officer appointed by the Minister of Social Protection. When a person, without good cause, fails to engage with the Intreo Employment Service, the case is referred to the local Intreo Employment Service office where a Deciding Officer will consider the information available to them and make a decision on the appropriate action.

The table below provides a breakdown by county of reduced rates applied in 2023 and 2024. The Deputy may wish to note that during the period of the Covid 19 pandemic, the application of the reduced rate process was suspended and was gradually re-introduced over the course of 2023. It is possible that a person may have multiple reduced rates applied throughout the course of the year.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1021. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the annual amount paid to service providers to provide employment activation programmes since Jobpath was established to date. [11511/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Referrals to the JobPath service ceased in June 2022 and the service ceased completely in June 2024. JobPath was a payment by results model and all set-up and day-to-day operational costs were borne by the companies. The companies were paid on the basis of performance and with the exception of the initial registration fee; payments were made only when a client had achieved sustained employment.

The overall cost of JobPath was determined by the number of people who participated in the programme and the number of people who the JobPath providers submitted evidence of sustainable employment for.

The details requested are provided in the table below.

Please note the figures provided are expenditure, net of any discounts, and do not take into account the savings made in respect of welfare payments for those who secured sustained employment or in any resulting increase in tax receipts.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.