As of June 2014, 36,013 citizens were signing for credited contributions with the Department. None of these citizens were in receipt of a payment from the Department. The Deputy should note that JobBridge internships are open to those signing for social insurance credits for 3 months or more.
The average annual cost of a placement on Community Employment (CE), Tús and Rural Social Scheme (RSS) is in the range €14,500 to €15,946 per annum depending on the scheme. These costs are inclusive of the participant wage costs (the equivalence of their prior social protection payment plus €20 per week); employer PRSI; training grants to sponsor bodies (if appropriate); service fees; materials and supervisory costs.
The total net average additional cost to the Exchequer of employing a qualifying person on work placement/training schemes is estimated at approximately €4,500 per annum. The gross costs of additional participants on CE, Tús and RSS who are not currently receiving a social protection payment is estimated to be in the range €43.5m to €46.5m for 3,000 participants, €72.5m to €77.3m for 5,000 participants and €101.5m to €108.2m for 7,000 additional participants depending on the scheme.
