I propose to take Questions Nos. 402 to 404, inclusive, together.
JobPath is an employment activation service which supports people who are long-term unemployed to secure and sustain full-time paid employment. Two companies, Turas Nua Limited and Seetec Limited, have been contracted to provide the service on behalf of my Department. The JobPath contracts provide that a person should not have to travel more than 60 minutes, by private or public transport, to a location which has a normal journey time of no more than one hour each way.
The JobPath providers are subject to regular on-site checks and inspections to ensure that JobPath is delivered in accordance with contractual obligations. To date, 15 on-site inspections have been carried out at provider locations around the country (8 at Turas Nua service delivery locations and 7 at Seetec service delivery locations). The inspections cover a variety of subjects such as service delivery, suitability and standard of accommodation, staffing, signage, Irish language compliance, complaints procedures and client feedback. Regular inspections will be conducted for the duration of the JobPath contract. Inspections may be notified or un-notified and may be general or focused on specific matters of interest.
Separately the Department has commissioned customers satisfaction research the results which will be available by the end of the year. This research will provide a, quantitative, evaluation of the standard of service delivery provided by the Jobpath providers.
The JobPath providers are registered with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and are subject to the provisions of data protection legislation. The providers are obliged to observe the principles of data protection, which requires that personal data is used solely for the purposes for which it is collected. Any breach or suspected breach of the data protection legislation will be a matter for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.