Seetec Ltd, one of the companies contracted to run the JobPath programme has been accused in the Dáil of fraud.
The company, fraudulently claimed they had got a participant a job, the House was told. It heard they forced the man to sign documents confirming he was present at sessions he did not attend, otherwise he would not have got paid.
Jobpath is an employment activation service provided to assist jobseekers on the live register to secure and sustain full-time paid employment or self-employment.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy raised serious concerns in the Dáil regarding the activation programme, and in particular, Seetec Ltd,. Legislation going through the Oireachtas was dealing with social welfare fraud but she warned the Government needed to investigate the operation of its own scheme, which was a “programme for profit” and being operated fraudulently.
Ms Murphy called on Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty to look at the JobPath scheme after she said a man was cajoled, shouted at, threatened and harassed for refusing to fill in forms, stating that JobPath had actually secured the employment for him, which it had not. Ms Murphy said a man came to see her because he felt he had to highlight what appears to be, to all intents and purposes, systematic fraud occurring under the auspices of a Government Department.
While Doherty said she would investigate any claims made, she said “it is simply not true” to state that customers are being harassed.
The Taoiseach said JobPath has been a very successful programme and the quarterly satisfaction report shows very high satisfaction levels.