Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 May 2022
136. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection the current ratio of her Department's employment services case officers to clients; the current proportion of case officer clients who are lone parents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26958/22]
View answerThe current number of clients within Intreo employment services is 24,671, of which 3,913 are lone parents in receipt of a Jobseeker Transition Payment. This represents almost 16% of the total.
There are 383 directly employed employment services officers (287 Case Officers plus 96 Job Coaches), giving an average ratio of clients to officers of 65:1.
Apart from the mandatory Activation process, any lone parent who wishes to avail of employment services can do so on a voluntary basis at any time by requesting a walk-in appointment with an employment services officer at their local Intreo Centre.
In addition to directly-provided Intreo employment services which focus on the short-term unemployed, contracted public employment services provide services to primarily long-term unemployed customers. Contracted services have an average client to employment personal advisor ratio of 120:1.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
