My Department is now at an advanced stage in its first phase of procuring new employment services. This phase involves the procurement of regional employment services for seven counties in the Midlands and North-West across four lots. These counties do not have an existing local employment service and represent the first phase of an expansion of similar employment services across the State.
The Phase Two procurement, which will see the Regional Employment Service model rolled out across the State will take on board the learnings of the first phase.
This procurement process follows extensive consultations by my Department with the existing service partners and employee representatives over the last number of years.
I fully agree with the Deputy in regards to he complexity of the issues involved in getting persons into the workforce. These new employment service models are part of the creation of a coherent client journey whereby the client receives the right service at the right time in their efforts to return to the labour market.
The Regional Employment Service is specifically designed for clients farthest from the labour market and its request for tender has been designed accordingly with a strong emphasis on the quality of service, inviting tenderers to demonstrate their ability to engage with these clients.
This is why the RES model requires tenderers not to bid below a certain threshold. The Department believes it is necessary to provide a high quality service and this is why approximately ninety per cent of average fees will be paid for client commencement and personal progression and are unrelated to an employment outcome.
While recognising the challenges of engaging with clients farthest from the labour market, best practices in this area require the measurement of progress and an employment service ultimately measures its progress by the numbers who secure employment. The Regional Employment Service will therefore measure progression into employment but will also measure other key performance indicators.
