Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 January 2022
400. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to a matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if she will expedite arrangements to meet with the organisation as requested. [3357/22]
View answerMy Department is procuring a new Local Area Employment Service over two distinct phases. There has been extensive engagement with all relevant stakeholders including both SIPTU and Forsa in relation to my Department's legal requirement to competitively procure contracted employment services.
Phase one of the process for procuring new employment services involved seven counties in the Midlands and North West currently without a Local Employment Service, contracts were signed last month and services are in the process of being mobilised.
Phase two of the process has now commenced, with the publication in December of a request for tender for seventeen lots covering 19 counties. Services for this phase will begin in July 2022.
I note the joint correspondence from SIPTU and Forsa to An Taoiseach on this matter, while reiterating that firstly, there was a legal imperative to competitively procure employment services and secondly, to state that I and my officials must constrain our public statements and stakeholder engagements during a live procurement process. I welcome the acknowledgement from the trade unions of the significant improvements made in the RFT for the phase 2 procurement. The WRC is a forum for resolving employment issues that arise between an employer and its staff. However, my Department is not a party to any related industrial disputes with any of its contractors or their respective staff. Furthermore, I understand that the new provider of Local Area Employment Services in the Laois/Offaly area has requested a copy of the collective bargaining agreement for the sector from the trade unions and will consider it in due course once it has been received.
