Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I thank Deputy Tuffy for raising this matter and her recognition of the positive elements of the national internship scheme, the JobBridge initiative. It is only ten weeks old so I must emphasise we are all learning from it quickly. It is interesting to see how much positive interest it has generated from employers and applicants. Interning has been popular in the United States, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom for some time. All the leaders of the British Government started as interns in politics but probably acquired them, however, more on the basis of who they knew.

The national internship scheme is new to the Irish context. The overall jobs initiative is part of the process of restoring confidence in the economy but also restoring hope and confidence in the large numbers of people who find themselves out of employment.

JobBridge, the national internship scheme, is a key element of the initiative but with a relatively modest capacity of 5,000 places. It is the first initiative operated under the new national employment and entitlements service, a commitment contained in the programme for Government. The scheme's aim is to assist individuals bridge the gap between unemployment and the world of work. It provides those seeking employment with the opportunity to undertake a six or nine month internship in a host organisation. Participants will benefit from learning new skills to complement their existing skills. Upon completing their internship, participants will have improved their prospects of securing employment.

In the current labour market environment, JobBridge provides individuals with a unique opportunity to secure work experience in a new field. The scheme enables people to break the cycle whereby unemployed people are unable to get a job without experience, either as new entrants to the labour market after education or training or as unemployed workers whose existing skills would not be appropriate to the types of jobs that will emerge in post-recession Ireland.

Since JobBridge was launched in July, it has already achieved significant milestones. There are in excess of 2,600 internship opportunities being advertised on the JobBridge website. In addition, as of last Friday, 1,124 interns had commenced their internships. Up to half are new to interning while the remaining have transferred from the old workplace programme to take advantage of the extra €50 a week payment.

When this was negotiated with the IMF, it was designed to assist those who have been unemployed for three months. Many wanted the scheme to be open to those who have been unemployed for more than a year. However, I insisted it was for those unemployed for three months to make it available to those types of applicants referred to by Deputy Tuffy. Labour market activation, which is getting people back into work experience and training, is a feature of our social welfare system. The EU-IMF-ECB troika programme sought that critical reform in Ireland. As such, it is imperative people are taken off the live register.

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