Niall Collins
Question:394. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22588/24]
View answerTuesday, 21 May 2024
Questions (394)
Written answers
My Department provides a range of employment services to support jobseekers in preparing for, securing, and sustaining employment. These services are either provided directly by my Department’s own staff, or on behalf of my Department through Intreo Partners and other service providers in both the community and voluntary and commercial sectors. Turas Nua is one of our Intreo Partners.
Externally contracted employment services provide my Department with additional employment support capacity and access to specialised skills to meet the job search support and employment services requirements of jobseekers. This enables my Department to maintain sufficient employment support capacity to meet current and future needs and respond effectively to rises in unemployment and changes in labour market conditions.
A distinctive client journey has been embedded into the employment services process, whereby jobseekers on the Live Register, after engaging with Intreo in the first twelve months are referred firstly to the Intreo Partner National Employment Service and after 24 months to the Intreo Partner Local Area Employment Service which is designed to engage with those with greater barriers to the labour market. In this way, the client is referred to the most appropriate service at each point in time on their client journey.
Participants receive intensive individual support, whereby each person is assigned a personal advisor who assesses their skills, experience, challenges and work goals and agrees a personal progression plan, that includes a schedule of activities, including relevant training and educational programmes to assist them in finding full-time sustainable employment.
For the purposes of the Intreo Partners service all long-term unemployed jobseekers on the Live Register are categorised into groups based on their duration of unemployment (e.g. 1- 2 years, 2 – 3 years etc.). All jobseekers who have been unemployed for more than one year are eligible for selection for the Intreo Partners service and clients are chosen by means of an automated selection process based on a number of criteria such as duration on the live register and employment service history.
Research into contracted employment services including by the OECD ( January 22) indicates that the programme has led to positive employment and earnings outcomes across a variety of hard-to-reach groups.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.