Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 November 2020
149. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the details of the employment sourced for JobPath participants with a breakdown of those in which the employment lasted for 13, 26, 39 and 52 weeks, respectively. [39175/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraInternationally and in Ireland research consistently indicates that the provision of a personal advisory/case management service to unemployed jobseekers is an effective method of supporting jobseekers to secure and sustain employment.
In Ireland this personal advisor/case management service is provided directly by the Department’s own staff and also by staff employed in contracted service providers – including the Local Employment Services (LES) and JobPath providers.
In general, the Department’s own case officers engage with people who are short term unemployed while those who are more distant from the labour market, including long-term unemployed people, are served by the LES and JobPath.
JobPath provides a case management based employment advice and counselling service to long term unemployed jobseekers, which aids jobseekers in finding employment. JobPath's role is not to source actual jobs for participants.
Between July 2015 and October 2020, some 283,826 jobseekers had commenced their engagement period with the JobPath service and of these 168,155 have completed at least one full engagement with JobPath. In the same period, 64,632 jobseekers had commenced employment during their engagement period with JobPath. Of these, 40,876 have sustained employment for 13 weeks, 32,811 have sustained employment for 26 weeks, 26,992 have sustained employment for 39 weeks and 22,581 were still employed after twelve months.
It should be noted that many clients who are currently engaged with JobPath are still in the first phase of the service. They have not yet had sufficient time with the service to have gained employment nor sustain that employment for up to 52 weeks.
My Department does not maintain statistics on the specific types of employment commenced through JobPath.
However, an econometric review of JobPath, published last year, noted that in 2018 the weekly employment earnings of people who secured employment with the JobPath service are 17% higher than the weekly employment earnings of people who secured employment without the support of JobPath. Taken with the 26% improvement in employment outcomes in the same period, it means the overall positive employment/earnings impact is 37% in 2018 for those who are supported by the JobPath service. These findings indicate that jobseekers who engage with JobPath are more likely to get a positive employment outcome than those jobseekers who aren't supported by the service.
