Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 January 2021
501. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection the cost of administering the JobPath programme annually; the percentage of clients who go into full-time employment of at least one year’s duration afterwards; the value for money oversight that is conducted; the way in which JobPath compares to Tús in terms of progression to full-time work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3781/21]
View answerJobPath provides long term unemployed Jobseekers with access to an employment assistance and advice service for a period of 12 months. JobPath providers are paid on the basis of performance and, with the exception of the initial registration fee; payments are made only when a client achieves sustained, full-time employment. Job Sustainment Fees are payable for each 13 week period of sustained employment, up to a maximum of 52 weeks. The final overall cost of JobPath will be determined by the number of people who participate in the programme and the number who get sustainable jobs.
The annual total expenditure on JobPath is as follows:
2015 - €1.2m;
2016 - €25.2m;
2017 - €57.4m;
2018 - €71.7m
2019 - €58.6m
2020 - €36.2m
2021 - €2m (to date)
Total - €252.3m
Between July 2015 and December 2020, some 288,957 jobseekers, consisting mostly of those more than two years unemployed, had engaged with the JobPath service of whom 65,583 (23%) had commenced employment. To date 23,069 of these clients (35% of those who started employment or 8% of the total referred to the service) have sustained full time employment for a period of 12 months or more.
It should be noted that many clients who are currently engaged with JobPath are in the first phase of the service and have not spent sufficient time with the service to have either gained employment or sustain that employment for up to 52 weeks. It should also be noted also that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the numbers gaining and sustaining employment.
In April 2019, my Department conducted an in-depth econometric review of the JobPath service in collaboration with the OECD. The review measured the effectiveness of JobPath and examined the long-term impact of the service. The review indicated that weekly earnings of people who secured employment after JobPath engagement were 17% higher than the weekly employment earnings of people who secured employment without the support of JobPath in 2018. Taken with the 26% improvement in employment outcomes – the likelihood of a person getting a job - in the same period, it means the overall positive impact was 37% in 2018 for those supported by the JobPath service. My Department intends to continue to review the operation of the JobPath programme and will update these findings in due course.
The JobPath service and the Tús initiative are not directly comparable. As previously stated, JobPath provides employment assistance and advice while Tús is a community work placement scheme providing short-term working opportunities for unemployed people. The Department does not collate Tús progression rates into full time employment.
It should be noted that jobseekers currently engaged with the JobPath service have the option of applying for a placement on Community Employment (CE) or TÚS, while continuing to engage with the JobPath service.
