Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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1399. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of times a person working part time can be required to attend a Local Area Employment Service for a duration of 52 weeks (details supplied). [18911/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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All jobseekers, including those who are working part time and in receipt of a jobseekers payment from my department, are required to be genuinely seeking and available for full time employment and to engage with my Department's employment services.

The Local Area Employment Services (LAES) is an employment assistance and advice service that supports and assists people who are long-term unemployed, including those working part time, to secure and sustain full-time paid employment.

All jobseekers who have been unemployed for more than one year are eligible for selection for the Intreo Partners service. Clients are chosen by means of an automated selection process based on a number of criteria such as duration on the live register and employment service history. The frequency of such referrals reflects whether or not a person has been able to progress to full-time employment after each period of engagement.

The person concerned has been in receipt of a part-time jobseekers payment since 2011 and after previous referrals to the service he has once again been recently referred to the LAES. The assigned Personal Advisor will further review his progression based on previous engagements and a new revised progression plan can be agreed to build on the progress made to date. The actions and tasks agreed will focus on any remaining barriers preventing the person from moving into suitable full-time employment.

All activities including meetings with the Personal Advisor are scheduled around the person's part-time work commitments and the service is delivered in a flexible manner in that respect.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.