Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2021
435. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to implement the commitment in the Programme for Government to increase the availability of activation schemes, including those run by the local employment services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57419/21]
View answerThe Programme for Government, ‘Our Shared Future’, published in July 2020, committed to increase the availability of activation schemes, including those run by local employment services.
The provision of activation services, including the Department’s internal Intreo service and external contracted services, is under continual review. My Department has commenced procuring a restructured and expanded activation service. This new model will see the replacement of Local Employment Services and JobClubs with a new Regional Employment Services model. This procurement process follows extensive consultations by my Department with existing service providers over the last number of years. The new model will extend high quality employment services across the State, deliver enhanced governance arrangements and provide successful tenderers with greater flexibility to innovate and deliver services for their clients. Phase 1 of this process in expanding services in the North West and Midlands is at an advanced stage.
Phase Two will see the Regional Employment Service model rolled out across the State and will take on board the learnings from the first phase. This is a significant expansion of employment services and will result in State-wide coverage of employment services for those furthest from the labour market for the first time.
Services tendered for in Phase two of this procurement process are to be in place by July 2022. This additional time will allow potential tenderers to prepare quality bids for the new services. My Department is in the process of offering current Local Employment Service and Job Club providers, in the Phase two areas, a new contract for the first half of 2022. This will enable continuity of service to our customers, providing for an orderly transition to the new employment services.
Also, under ‘Pathways to Work 2021 - 2025’, the Government's new employment services strategy, which launched in July 2021, my Department has put in place a wide range of other supports to assist those out of work to find new jobs. These measures, strengthened by increased capacity within the Public Employment Service, will provide those out of work with the guidance and support they need to re-enter the workforce during the recovery phase of the pandemic. This includes persons who were unemployed prior to the pandemic and those whose pre-COVID jobs will not return post pandemic, who will require support and assistance finding new employment.
Pathways to Work sets out 83 commitments on a whole-of-Government basis, many of which increase places on activation schemes. Eligible unemployed persons can be referred to these programmes by Intreo Activation services, including contracted services such as local employment services. These include;
- A paid Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP), which is a 6-month, 30 hour per week work experience programme, to provide 10,000 unemployed people with the opportunity to build valuable on-the-job experience by the end of 2022.
- Provision of an extra 3,000 places on State Employment Schemes such as Community Employment to support long term unemployed persons, particularly those facing the greatest barriers, get back to work.
- Improved access to self-employment opportunities through increased funding for the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance scheme, supporting 4,200 jobseekers to start their own business.
- Increased funding for JobsPlus recruitment subsidies with a value ranging from €7,500 to €10,000 for employers to benefit 8,000 jobseekers, with a particular focus on young unemployed people and people who are long-term unemployed.
In addition, I am working closely with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, to ensure that jobseekers can avail of suitable training opportunities to assist them to access the skills needed to make their next step in their career. Under Pathways to Work, Minister Harris’s Department is committed to providing 50,000 additional education and training places,
Under Pathways to Work, my Department has also;
- Improved access to further education and opportunities through increased funding for the Back to Education scheme, with a target of increasing participation in education programmes to 7,700.
- Increased the maximum value of the Training Support Grant from €500 per grant to €1,000 to benefit 12,500 jobseekers per annum.
In delivering on commitments set out in Pathways to Work and the Economic Recovery Plan the Government's ambition is to restore unemployment back to, or below, its pre-pandemic levels of 2019, when the economy was close to full employment.
