More than 3,600 people in Cork have been placed in jobs through Turas Nua under the JobPath programme, an Oireachtas Committee has heard.

As well as the number of people placed in employment, Turas Nua has also delivered over 16,000 training courses in Cork, aimed at helping people to upskill and ensure they are better prepared for the jobs’ market.

Turas Nua maintains ten offices in Cork, including in Fermoy, Mallow and Midleton, which employ 64 people in total. 

They are currently helping more than 4,000 people in the county in their efforts to find work and are also working with over 3,100 employers across the south region, which covers Cork and Waterford.

The figures came to light as part of a discussion on the JobPath programme held by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

In their submission to the Committee, Turas Nua, the organisation responsible for delivering JobPath in the southern part of the country, provided details about the impact of their service in Cork.

The most popular job starts delivered under JobPath in the region have come in the contact centre industry (32%), followed by construction (20%) and hospitality (17%). Nationally Turas Nua is helping 1,000 people a month to find employment.

Colin Donnery, Director with Turas Nua outlined their commitment to helping people find work: “Our service focuses around the needs of each person we work with. 34 percent of the people who have completed JobPath with Turas Nua have attained a job. To date, 70 percent of the people who progress beyond 13 weeks in employment, sustain in employment over a full year”.

JobPath is an approach to employment activation which caters mainly for people who are long-term unemployed (over 12 months) to assist them to secure and sustain full-time paid employment or self-employment.

Turas Nua was retained by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to deliver the JobPath programme in the southern half of the country.