Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)

I thank the Minister for her reply. Her presentation was very enthusiastic but I am not convinced because of some of the reasons raised by Deputy Wallace. Internships are very specific and I know people who have gone from colleges in Germany to Brussels and Europe as part of their political studies. They may work there for six months before returning home to finish their studies. The basic requirement was to gain experience.

We are telling people to take up employment for six to nine months for approximately €240 per week. When the six to nine months are completed, as the Minister indicated, we will still be in recession, so those people will go for another internship for six to nine months. What Deputy Wallace described will happen more often than not. It would be different if we had very skilled people in certain areas with no work. They could get off the dole to try to develop skills or even get into another area of work. We are talking in a recession when employers will seek to cut left, right and centre.

The Minister indicated that a company with up to 1,000 employees can take on 200 internships. An employer could easily use those interns to replace a paid position rather than develop skills. I am not convinced by the scheme and I ask the Minister to remove the section because it does not make sense. It is more open to abuse than anything else.

The Minister spoke about community but that is being hammered and with so many cutbacks people are crying out for assistance. The sector is ideal for internships as community projects might bring in people to fill positions where people have left. There is a moratorium in the public sector so we are talking about internships. That is great because interns can do the work of somebody else who was let go. I do not agree with the scheme as it is the wrong way to approach the issue. It is being done for the wrong reasons and internships should only be used for specific short-term reasons and certain areas. It should not be used for the position faced by the country now.

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