Carol Nolan Challenges Value for Money of JobPath Contracts

Minister, I wish to ask you if you plan to continue using the services provided by Torres Nua and CTEC in terms of the operation of the JobPath scheme, and if you will consider using alternative service providers, and if you could make a statement in relation to this matter, please. Thank you, and thank you, Deputy Nolan, for raising this issue. JobPath provides employment assistance and advice to the long-term unemployed on behalf of my department. The current JobPath contracts were due to expire at the end of last year. However, last October, in addition to contract renewals to the local employment services, job clubs, and employability, I announced an extension of referrals to the JobPath service for a further 12 months until the end of 2021. While new referrals will cease at the end of December, there will be a run-off period to enable existing clients to complete their engagement with the service. These measures were taken in order to ensure the public employment service has had sufficient capacity to support those impacted by the pandemic with access to employment services throughout 2021. In light of these circumstances, I deemed prudent to not only retain, but to expand the existing capacity of our public employment services. We will be expanding the footprint of local employment type services into several new geographical areas where a local employment service does not currently exist. We are also expanding the capacity of intro centres to provide employment services and supports, with the assignment of an additional 100 job coaches this year. As the current contracts for all contracted employment services expire at the end of 2021, including JobPath, my department is currently developing requests for tender to ensure that high-quality employment services with sufficient capacity to support all those who need our assistance in securing employment are openly procured in a manner that is compatible with EU and national procurement rules. Thank you, Minister Deputy Karen Olin. Thank you for your response and indeed your clarity in confirming that the JobPath scheme will be extended. But I wish to draw your attention to the fact that there is more problems than solutions with the whole JobPath. And one big problem that many people have with this is, is it value for money? I mean, like, you know, we can say for certain that the total amount paid to Taurus, Nua and CTEC for the operation of the JobPath scheme for the period 2015 to date is just over a quarter of a billion euros, or 247.9 million. I mean, how can we honestly say that that's value for money? And I just want to ask you, like, has any assessment been carried out? You know, have any assessments, have any comparisons been made in terms of other jurisdictions? And now I know this is used in the UK, but other jurisdictions and what they're doing in terms of value for money? Because I'd be concerned, the breakdown for every year is as follows. For example, 2015, 1.2 million. We'll be coming back to you, Deputy, we're out of time. Yeah, okay, come on. Thank you. Deputy, just to be clear here, JobPath is not a job placement service. The providers are contracted to provide employment assistance and, indeed, to support job seekers. It is a payment, so I think it's important to say that there has been a review carried out on it. And the OECD evaluation, which is completely independent, showed that overall, those who participate on JobPath have better employment outcomes and earnings than those who are not supported by JobPath. Customer satisfaction is independently assessed via regular surveys and remains high. Complaints are low. And I think it's around 1% of over 280,000 participants. What I would say is, if deputies have examples, please bring those specific cases to my attention. And I will have them looked at, because I'm happy to hear, to make improvements. Thank you, Minister. Deputy Nolan. Good, Minister. When I asked about the value for money assessment, I wasn't talking about a review in terms of how people were placed and so forth. And I would have questions over that, too, because I have had many constituents in my office, and, indeed, many of them have made complaints. And I've actually showed them how to do it through the formal process. And that was a number of years ago. And it's going on still to date, Minister. But my whole question is, in terms of the money that's been spent, did the review look at the money that's been spent? Because, to me, it's colossal. The breakdown for each year is as follows. 2015, 1.2 million. 2016, 25.2 million. 2017, 57.4 million. 2018, 71.7 million. 2019, 58.6 million. And 2020, 33.8 million. This is a staggering sum of money. Particularly when one considers that Taurus Nua, in particular, has been the subject of continuing criticism and controversy. And, unfortunately, Minister, it has been. Thank you. Minister, to conclude, please. Deputy, the figure you refer to there relates to services to over 295,000 job seekers. As I said, the success rate of them getting and keeping a job is actually better than some of the other services. But I think now, Deputy, is not the time to be cutting employment support services of any kind. We are facing record unemployment as a result of the pandemic. There's currently 363,000 people on the PUP. There's a further 177,000 on the live registers. So there's a number of different approaches to this. There's a local employment service. There's a job path. And there's the intro office. And I believe that as we face the challenges, as we, you know, as the restrictions are lifted, people get back to work. There are going to be challenges for those that don't get their job back. And we need to support them in every single way that we can to help them find employment that is suited to them. And I think that, as I said, now is not the time to be reducing the services. And we're expanding the local employment services into a number of new geographical areas, as I said. Thank you.