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JobPath Programme

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 March 2018

Tuesday, 27 March 2018

Ceisteanna (601)

Michael Healy-Rae

Ceist:

601. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will address queries (details supplied) with regard to JobPath issues and Tús; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14074/18]

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Freagraí scríofa

As the Deputy will be aware, JobPath is a service that supports people who are long-term unemployed to obtain and sustain paid employment. The service was launched in 2015 on a ‘rolling basis’ with referral numbers gradually increasing over time. The aim of the service is to assist persons who are long term unemployed to find and sustain full-time paid employment in the open labour market. The service assists long-term unemployed people through the provision of career advice, CV preparation support, interview skills training, job search supports and by working closely with employers to source vacancies that can be offered to jobseekers.

The service is distinct from the CE and TÚS schemes which provide part- time work experience and training opportunities as stepping stones back to employment for people on a range of Social Welfare payments. These schemes do not provide full-time sustainable employment in the open labour market.

It is important to note that there are two phases to the JobPath service. During the first phase, of 12 months duration, a personal advisor (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. The duration of the client journey therefore necessitates the requirement of a cohort based approach to reporting and the updating of individual cohort outcome data over time, as amd when more jobseekers complete their engagement period with the service.

My Department has published initial cohort based reports on the performance of the service, with the latest being published on welfare.ie in January 2018. This report detailed employment outcomes for customer cohorts referred in Quarter 3 and 4 in 2015 and those referred in Quarter 1 and 2 in 2016.

Of the 39,603 jobseekers referred to the service during this period, 58% were over three years unemployed and a further 17% were over two years unemployed. These groups face significant barriers when seeking to enter or return to employment in the open labour market.

The total employment outcome across all four cohorts 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. It is important to note, that the latter two cohorts (Q1 and Q2 2016), represent 80% of the 39,603 jobseekers referred between July 2015 and June 2016, and the employment outcomes are expected to improve over time as more jobseekers from these cohorts complete their full engagement period with the service.

The figures presented for JobPath provided by the Deputy are misconceived as they do not correctly relate to the service and as they seek to compare the service and the participation costs for other schemes, this is to misunderstand the service. However taking the deputies approach, the cost per jobseeker supported by the service in the period between July 2015 and June 2016, can be estimated by taking the numbers who participated during the period (circa 39,600 jobseekers) and the payments from the Department during the same period (which amounted to approximately €11.6m) giving a cost per participant of approximately €300.

The actual cost of the service, over the term of the contract, will be determined by a combination of factors such as, the profile of jobseekers on the live register, the number of people who are referred to the service by the Department and critically, the number of Jobseekers who are successfully placed into sustainable full time paid employment.

It should also be noted that the quoted amounts paid in fees to JobPath providers to date are gross figures i.e. the associated savings in social welfare payments have not been deducted. This is a key feature of a payment by results model of contracting which has been undertaken with regards to JobPath: i.e. job sustainment fee payments are only made were a jobseeker has obtained and sustained paid employment of 13, 26, 39 and 52 weeks duration were the former jobseeker was not entitled to a jobseekers related payment during that period.

Given the extended time a Jobseeker may engage with the service and the increase in referral numbers over the reported timeframe the results are positive. These initial cohort reports are however subject to review and are based on a relatively small sample size. With this in mind, the department is undertaking an econometric review of this strand of its activation services. Completion of the review is provisionally scheduled for the end of Q3 2018, following which more detailed and robust statistics will be available.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.

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