Following a recent competitive tendering process run by my Department in accordance with EU procurement rules, 17 community and voluntary sector organisations were successful and were awarded contracts to provide the new Intreo Partners Local Area Employment Service (IPLAES). This new service replaces both the Local Employment Service and Job Club contracts. All 17 of these contracts are now in place and the new service is being mobilised with the support of my Department. This new service provides comprehensive services for the long-term unemployed and other clients throughout the State for the first time. Clients are now being referred to the new service.
The new IPLAES includes, for the first time, a mechanism enabling my Department to monitor outcomes for clients, measuring how successful the new service is in assisting clients of the IPLAES to secure employment.
My Department is not the employer of contracted staff and therefore the responsibility for the employment conditions of those staff rests solely with their employer. All employers are obliged to respect the framework of employment rights including, where appropriate, the preservation of existing terms and conditions.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
