Clare Daly
Question:119. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the changes she plans to make to the operation of the JobBridge scheme to ensure that it is not being used to replace real jobs. [41703/14]
View answerTuesday, 4 November 2014
Questions (119)
Written answers
The aim of the JobBridge scheme is to assist in breaking the vicious cycle whereby jobseekers are unable to get a job without experience, either as new entrants to the labour market following education or training, or as unemployed workers wishing to learn new skills. At any one time, JobBridge will provide up to 8,500 work experience placements for jobseekers, in organisations in the private, public, community and voluntary sectors.
Over 34,000 internship placements having commenced to date. There are currently 6,628 interns on the programme and a further 2,079 positions are advertised on the JobBridge website.
In developing JobBridge considerable care was taken to set conditions to limit any opportunity to exploit the scheme. There is a limit on the duration of internships and on the total number of internships that can be offered by any organisation. A cooling off period of six months is enforced, subject to controlled exceptions. Permanent posts cannot be filled by successive use of internships and internships cannot be used to fill a position which was previously filled by a paid employee.
To ensure that both the host organisation and intern are abiding by the spirit and the rules of the scheme, the Department undertakes ongoing monitoring of internships. This involves the regular review of monthly compliance reports and random site visits to facilitate discussions with both parties to the internship. The Department has conducted over 7,800 monitoring visits to-date, and 97% of these visits have been of a satisfactory nature. To date 44 companies have been disqualified from participating in the scheme due to breaches of the terms and conditions of the scheme.
Any individual who suspects that an internship may be in breach of the scheme’s criteria, including cases of suspected displacement, quality issues or lack of appropriate mentoring and support, may contact the JobBridge team. Further information is available on the Contact Us page of the JobBridge website www.jobbridge.ie. All such matters are fully investigated.