Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 February 2018
274. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons from County Kerry enrolled in the JobPath scheme that have secured full-time employment since availing of the service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6494/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraJobPath is an employment service, designed to support people who are long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment. The service is delivered by Turas Nua in County Kerry.
Under the service jobseekers have access to a personal adviser (PA) who works with them over two phases. During the first phase, of 12 months duration, the PA provides practical assistance in searching, preparing for, securing and sustaining employment. The second phase starts if the jobseeker is successful in finding work. During this phase the PA continues to work with the jobseeker for a further period of at least three months, and up to 12 months. In addition to the two phases jobseekers may also undertake training while with the service and this may extend the period the jobseeker is supported through the service for up to a further 6 months. It will therefore take time to accumulate a sufficient number of clients (who have completed their engagement period with the service) for complete and robust outcome data to be available.
In regard to outcomes from the service, my Department does not routinely collate and process outcomes on a County basis and the information requested is currently unavailable. However it is envisaged that in the medium term the reports to be published will provide greater granularity as the statistics available become more robust.
In the interim, my Department has been publishing on a quarterly basis, cohort based reports covering those referred to the service in Q3 and Q4 2015 and Q1 and Q2 2016. The latest report was published in January of this year. The report can be accessed on the Department’s website at the following link;
http://www.welfare.ie/en/downloads/JobPath-Performance-Report2017.pdf
The data is encouraging as the total employment outcome at the time of publishing was 25%: 18% of Jobseekers who engaged with the service during this period obtained full time employment, in addition a further 4% of clients entered part time employment and a further 3% became self-employed.
I trust that this information is of some assistance to the Deputy.
