Seán Sherlock
Question:103. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of proposed public tendering of local employment schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35630/21]
View answerThursday, 1 July 2021
Questions (103)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
On the same theme, I merely wish to ask the Minister the exact status of the proposed public tendering of local employment schemes.
I thank the Deputy. Up to now, all contracts for local employment services were issued for a single 12-month period and rolled over on an annual basis.
Many of these contracts have been in place with very little change since the early 1990s. Good governance and national and EU procurement rules require that my Department does not continue this practice of simply rolling over contracts for employment services. For this reason, in order to ensure service continuity and enhance the provision of employment services, my Department is undertaking a two-phase procurement of employment services on a multi-annual basis.
As a first step, a tender has already been issued to procure services across seven counties in the north west and midlands that are currently without a local employment scheme. This request for tender was published on 26 May 2021 with a deadline of 7 July. Rather than replacing existing contracts, the tender will see the services expand into new areas and therefore provides a good basis on which to apply the new procurement approach. The tender is specifically designed to attract providers with strong local and community links to deliver high-quality employment advice services to people who are long-term unemployed.
As part of this approach, we intend to move away from single annual contracts that involve the financial micromanagement of the local employment service providers. Up to now, local employment services were paid a fixed annual fee, regardless of the number of clients they saw or the outcomes they achieved, and were subject to audit against expenses incurred. This was inefficient and did not place the client, the unemployed jobseeker, at the centre of the contractual relationship. Under the new model, the Department will guarantee a minimum number of clients and make payments based primarily on the number of clients referred, with additional payments for outcomes achieved.
Does the Minister acknowledge that there are still concerns, particularly on the part of the people who have been working in the system? One person I know has been working in the system for over 25 years. I share the concerns raised. It has been expressed to me that if a person who is a client of the service does not reach a certain metric or if there is not a certain output in that person's case, perhaps the attainment of a full-time or part-time job or whatever that output might be, a punitive economic measure or sanction could be levied against the person or client. That is a concern that people have. They are concerned that the net effect of the creation of a new service will be that a set of metrics will be put in place which specifies that the client has to reach certain milestones and if they do not reach those milestones, payments or other services will be cut off from the client.
I want to allay those concerns. The focus here is on the client, the unemployed person. That is the number one priority. When a person is referred to the local employment service, it is done through the Intreo services. They will decide the best pathway. It is all about client-focused services and delivering the best outcome for the client. Under this contract, the local employment service will receive 45% of the payment up-front upon the referral of a person to the service. That has been put in place because I knew there could be some problems around cash flow, etc. When the client signs up to a plan, the local employment service receives another 45%. As such, the service receives 90% of the cost. We have also included a minimum cost in the tender, so applicants cannot bid below a certain price. This has all been done to ensure the client is the number one person in all of this. The final 10% is paid when a job is secured.
We are yet to be convinced. I say that respectfully.
The Minister has acknowledged that her predecessor attended the Irish Local Development Network, ILDN, conference in 2018. I request that the Minister consider meeting the ILDN and trade union representatives following the outcome of the first request for tender process and before the second request for tender process begins. I am making that request because I believe there will be learnings from the first request for tender process. The Minister stated previously to Deputy Kerrane that her officials had met various representative groups. If the Minister would consider personally meeting trade union representatives and the ILDN, that would be welcome. The employers and unions are on the same page, in this instance.
The first request for tender is a means of expanding the services. We are not reducing any services. However, there will be learnings from the first request for tender process. If tweaks or changes are needed for the second request for tender, I will be happy to make those. I am also happy to engage with the Deputies on the matter.
At the end of the day, I want to ensure we provide the best possible service for people who are long-term unemployed. Many people have been out of work since the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, was first introduced in March 2020. I am sure they are feeling a certain trepidation about returning to the workforce. Their jobs may no longer be there for them. They need support and encouragement. I want to ensure they get all the supports they can to help them back into the workplace. I will be happy to talk to the stakeholders once we have completed the request for tender process. I assure the Deputies that the officials in my Department have genuinely engaged with every single provider to which the contract has been issued.