Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It might be helpful for the Deputy to consider the example of Tús. We initially offered each county 80 to 120 places, depending on its size. The take-up of the scheme which offers participants 19 hours per week has been absolutely fantastic throughout the country. In fact, a large number of counties have come back looking for more places. We have also extended the JobBridge scheme, in co-operation with the Arts Council and local arts officers, to offer internships during festival season and so on. The Deputy will be pleased to hear that we have had a great take-up by the arts officer in Cork County Council.