Case Study: Research Policy Interface Thematic Group

JobPath Scheme

Evidence presented to an Oireachtas committee on the JobPath scheme to inform parliamentary debate and recommendations. As a result, new referrals to JobPath ended in June 2022 and the scheme was fully discontinued in June 2024.

Academics and Institutional Affiliation:

The Waterford Un/Employment Research Collaborative (WUERC) Team: Dr Ray Griffin (1), Dr Aisling Tuite (1), Antoinette Jordan (1) , Dr Zach Roche (1) and Dr Kenny Doyle (1), and Dr Tom Boland (2).

1-South East University Dublin, 2- University College Cork

Evidence of policy outcome referencing the role of the research:

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Employment Affairs & Social Protection abolished JobPath in February 2019 based on WUERC evidence.

Research undertaken that informed or underpinned the policy outcome:

This evidence has informed numerous publications, policy papers, and Oireachtas submissions, establishing WUERC researchers as national opinion leaders on unemployment and welfare. A key output was the edited volume The Sociology of Unemployment (Manchester University Press, 2015).

Key learnings for you from this research-policy bridging process:

Accessible dissemination: Bringing evidence directly to policymakers is more straightforward and impactful than often assumed, especially when presented in clear and accessible formats.
Complementary perspectives: The experience informed the WUERC team’s later presentation to the same Oireachtas committee on means testing, underscoring the importance of lived-experience research as a complement to the customer service–oriented evaluations typically favoured by the Department of Social Protection.
Navigating media discourse: The team also learned how highly reactive and politically charged media debate around social policy can be, and the importance of maintaining academic rigour and clarity when contributing to such public discussions.

SDGs impacted:

SDG 8 & SDG 10