Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 July 2016
278. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she is aware of the continuing exploitation and advertisements for unpaid internships at an Irish-owned company (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21470/16]
View answer279. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she is concerned by the practice of businesses with multi-million euro annual profits advertising internships to final-year students and recent graduates via their colleges and universities, as for example in one case of a hotel group (details supplied) which recorded an €11.1 million increase in its after-tax profit in 2015 and which is advertising 6 to 9 month unpaid internships via the Dublin Institute of Technology, Cathal Brugha, Street, Dublin 1; the steps she will take to ensure that young persons are not exploited by enormously profitable multinational companies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21580/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 278 and 279 together.
Arrangements which may be described as internships are not defined by Irish legislation. Depending on the particulars of the individual arrangement, the participants may have entitlements to protection under employment law, including the National Minimum Wage .
I have referred the details supplied by the Deputy to the Workplace Relations Commission for examination and action if appropriate.
Ireland’s body of employment rights legislation protects all employees who are legally employed on an employer-employee basis. Therefore, once it is clear that a person is working under a contract of employment, on a full-time or part-time basis, that person has the same protection under employment law as other employees. Any persons with questions or complaints regarding their rights under employment law should contact Workplace Relations Customer Service on lo-call 1890 80 80 90 or at www.workplacerelations.ie.
While the internship referred to by the Deputy is not part of the JobBridge scheme, I would note that the JobBridge scheme is the national internship scheme administered by the Department of Social Protection. The legislation underpinning the JobBridge scheme specifically provides that a participant shall, for the purposes of any enactment or rule of law (other than the Tax Acts and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005), be deemed not to be an employee. Any complaints regarding compliance with the scheme should be addressed to that Department. The Minister for Social Protection has already announced that he is considering replacing JobBridge with a more targeted scheme later this year, as he believes that economic and labour market conditions have changed for the better since the scheme was introduced in 2011. However, the Minister believes it is important that the design of a new scheme be informed by the best evidence possible. It is for this reason that he intends to await the results of a second large scale evaluation of JobBridge currently underway. The results of this evaluation, which is again being undertaken by Indecon, are expected in September and the Minister will announce his proposals for a new scheme shortly thereafter.
