Parliamentary Question to the Minister for Social Protection

To ask the Minister for Social Protection her views on the proposals to develop a jobseeker’s database; if this database will go as far as recording vital details such as education, skill set and past employment history; the length of time this proposal will take to implement; the way this differs from the current database that provides information to her Department for the pathways to work programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Social Protection (Joan Burton T.D):

My Department collects a wide range of data in engaging with jobseekers, which is mainly used at present to establish entitlements and for monitoring fraud and abuse. This information can also be more systematically used as a basis for evaluating progression outcomes for the Department’s customers and schemes, which is the purpose of the jobseeker’s database referred to in the question. Any demographic, employment, education, training or scheme related data currently available to the Department at Personal Public Service Number level will be considered for inclusion in the database, which will mainly involve restructuring of existing data into a consistent time series at customer level. Periods spent on activation or employment schemes can be related to subsequent work and benefit outcomes on this basis.
Analysis of customer outcomes using the database will be made available once technical and data validation work is completed.