The Department of Social Protection’s job seeker site is to be overhauled to make it easier for jobseekers and employers to find jobs.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Social Protection said it is now "significantly upgrading" the website as employers cannot use the site to search for suitable jobseekers.

Jobsireland.ie, the the website for Intreo, has been down for the past few days and is expected to return on Thursday.

Intreo, replaced the three previously separate services from FÁS, Department of Social Protection and the Community Welfare Service in 2012.

Intreo provides access to information on job vacancies through the website.

The system will integrate with the Department’s Intreo service and will allow the Department of Social Protection’s case workers to track and support jobseeker employment search activity.

The spokeswoman said on the old version of the website, employers had to rely on candidates finding and applying for a job from among the thousands hosted on the system.

The new service is being introduced on a phased basis from this week.

“Unlike the old system, it will enable both employers and jobseekers to search for each other using competencies and skillsets, as well as the traditional job type classifications. It will automatically match candidate profiles to job specifications posted by employers, and notify both candidates and the employer when a match is found,” the spokeswoman said.

The Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed expressed its concerns over the matter. “It is welcome that an information notice and apology for any inconvenience caused is now up on the website, and it is vitally important that the service does indeed recommenced, and no later than Thursday 28th July,” it said in a statement.