Community employment review
Deputy Lawless argued that JobPath was disrupting pathways from Tús into community employment and asked for a review. After procedural remarks, the Minister for Social Protection said a review of CE, Gateway and Tús had been completed and would be published shortly.
There are six more Deputies offering. I will take them if they are very brief. If they are not, I will move on.
Comment on this
The programme for Government references labour activation schemes and back-to-work schemes, both of which are badly needed. I wish to raise an issue relating to community employment placements. Traditionally, employees would have gone onto a Tús scheme. From there they would have gone on to work with a local organisation, often a community or charitable organisation, and then they would have moved onto a community employment, CE, scheme at the same location. This worked well for the individual and the organisations. It appears that since the advent of JobPath, operated by Turas Nua and Seetec, this path is blocked and individuals coming off the Tús scheme are placed in limbo for 12 months and are unable to return to a CE scheme.
Comment on this
Will the Minister review the operation of this scheme? It is not working. This is the position throughout the country. Individuals and organisations are losing out. Will the Minister review the operation of the scheme? It is in the programme for Government. Will the Minister clarify the situation?
Comment on this
I call on the Minister for Social Protection to respond.
Comment on this
We have carried out a review of the community employment, Gateway and Tús programmes. I should be in a position to publish it in the coming weeks.
I wish to point out two things. People spend a year on Tús. It is important that they do not spend too long on Tús, because people on Tús are supposed to move on to employment. We do not want people to spend their lives on schemes. We want them in employment. That is why it is limited to one year.
Second, it is important not to confuse JobPath with an employment scheme like CE, Tús or Gateway. JobPath operates by finding people jobs. The programme operators spend a year working with people and finding them employment. If they cannot find employment by that point, they can go back to Tús or CE. No one operating a Tús or CE scheme should ever see themselves as being in competition with real gainful employment or with a proper employer.