Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 March 2012
25 Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Social Protection the measures she intends to put in place to ensure that JobBridge is not exploited by private sector employers resulting in persons being forced into low paid jobs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11863/12]
View answerThe aim of the National Internship Scheme is to assist in breaking the cycle where jobseekers are unable to get a job without experience, either as new entrants to the labour market after education or training or as unemployed workers wishing to learn new skills. Participation on internships currently operates on a voluntary basis and there are no current plans to amend this approach.
It should be noted that all organisations who are participating in the JobBridge scheme are required to abide by the criteria of the scheme including the specific measures which have been designed to prevent the abuse of the scheme by employers, protect the intern from exploitation and ensure the integrity of the JobBridge scheme. These include the following:
that the internship does not allow the intern to work unsupervised;
that the internship is not displacing an employee; and
that the intern accrues significant experience throughout the entire internship.
In addition, all host organisations must comply with the monitoring requirements of the scheme including the completion of the monthly compliance reports and the Standard Internship Agreement with their interns. This Agreement clearly stipulates the terms of the internship and states the specific learning outcomes the intern will receive over the course of their internship.
To ensure compliance my Department is monitoring internships to check that they are of sufficient quality and that both host organisations and interns are abiding by the spirit and the rules of the scheme.
As a further safeguard a "whistle blowing" feature has also been introduced where any individual who suspects that an internship may be in breach of the scheme's criteria may contact the JobBridge team. All such claims will be investigated.
In addition a pilot monitoring programme has been rolled out with the objective of initially monitoring 3% of Internships. The internships selected for monitoring will be based on a risk assessment process conducted on a regional basis. It is intended that ultimately approximately 5% of internships per region per year will be selected for an on-site visit.
The objective of the Monitoring Process is to establish the level of Compliance with the Standard Agreement (as signed by the Host Organisation and the Intern). This includes the following:
Has the Standard Agreement been completed and signed by both parties.
Has a Mentor been appointed, if so, whom.
Are the duties and responsibilities in line with the original internship advertisement.
Has the Development Work Experience Agreement been completed, signed and adhered to.
Are the Intern's hours of work in line with the Standard Agreement.
Scope for any further/additional information is also provided.
In general, the feedback from the Monitoring Visits that have taken place to date has been overwhelmingly positive from the perspective of both the Host Organisation and the Intern.
It is intended that following the pilot a short review of the process will be undertaken to ensure the effectiveness of the approach.
