I propose to take Questions Nos. 191 and 192 together.
A table giving the number of JobBridge internships with Donegal Education and Training Board follows. There have been a total of 82 JobBridge internships with Donegal ETB, of which 36 are currently active and 46 have been completed. Of the 46 finishers, the Department’s records indicate that 3 of these interns went directly into paid employment with Donegal ETB. A further 6 finishers immediately progressed into employment with another organisation at the end of their internship.
The Department considers that it is important to offer interns public sector internships for four reasons: first, because, despite the recruitment embargo, there are many high-quality, real-workplace positions that can give the intern the new skills and experiences that they can use to bridge the gap to the rest of their working lives; second, because public sector internships continue to be in demand by interns who choose them voluntarily and in the knowledge of the recruitment embargo; third, precisely because of the recruitment embargo, filling those positions is certainly not displacing an employee; and fourth, because of the high rates of progression into employment with other organisations that are still exceptionally high by comparison with the Live Register in general.
The independent evaluation of JobBridge conducted by Indecon Economic Consultants found that there is a higher rate of employment among participants who completed their internships in private sector organisations. Encouragingly, however, 41.2% of all participants who undertook their internship in a public sector organisation progressed into paid employment.
A JobBridge intern may undertake up to 3 internships for a maximum cumulative period of 18 months. Any individual who has not reached those maxima may apply for a further internship.
Table 1. JobBridge Internships with Donegal ETB
|
Donegal Education & Training Board
|
|
Completed
|
Current
|
Total
|
|
Got job elsewhere
|
|
6
|
|
6
|
|
Got job with Host Organisation
|
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
Total Internships
|
|
46
|
36
|
82
|
