Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have had a number of thrash-outs of the various job activation schemes over the last couple of years. I have explained my opposition to some and my support for others. I have a few specific questions. One is about the staff allocation to JobPlus and JobPlus Youth and also to JobBridge. One change since the last time the witnesses were here has been the announcement of JobPlus Youth and First Steps. Can you explain why First Steps is not called JobBridge Youth, given that it is very similar? A question also needs to be raised in relation to the work placement programme which predated this with Tesco and Diageo. It now seems that the likes of those companies will be availing of the new JobBridge for young people to displace existing jobs. It is not just Tesco - there are other companies out there that I have complained about - but we already know that Tesco Ireland is contemplating major lay-offs. Has it been taken into account that while Tesco is contemplating laying off staff, it is availing of JobBridge or an equivalent scheme? Does that factor into any of the discussions within the Department, and does it set off alarm bells that jobs will be displaced, with the State subsidising a company with high, albeit decreasing, profits? I believe Tesco made £1.4 billion in profit last year. I do not have a clue what Diageo's profit was but I know the CEO is on a wage of £7.4 million per annum. In the past, those companies would have taken people on at entry level at a lower rate, rather than taking on people for a number of months fully subsidised by the State. In some ways JobBridge, or its equivalent, would be displacing jobs which might have been low paid or low entry-level. We all know of young people coming out of school who, in the past, would have been able to get into employment on a paid level on very low wages and work their way up. Now, more and more, they are expected to take on up to nine months' work for no pay but a social welfare top-up, and the company does not have to pay a penny or contribute in any way. In the past, companies would have had to make the payment and train the staff at that entry level.