Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Economists like the one mentioned talk about displacement effects and the people who would have got work anyway. Based on research from 2011 and 2012, contrary to the suggestion of Deputy Ó Snodaigh about opportunity cost, JobBridge generated positive value to the Exchequer of €15 million over a full year. Perhaps what the Deputy's economist is failing to take into account is where people get a start and work experience. As a society, we put great emphasis on education but people come out of education at various levels after the leaving certificate, after a degree, after a masters and a doctorate in the case of some people I have come across, they have gone through education but they have no work experience. In a labour market where it is difficult to get a job, not having that magic thing of some work experience means good people cannot be seriously considered by employers for vacancies. If they get a start with JobBridge, they get the experience. The research shows that, subsequently, over 60% of them go on to be in paid employment five months later. We must look at the totality of the return to the individual, to the company and to the organisations that use their services. This includes community organisations that go out of their way to give interns high quality work experience. Then, people get a start in the labour market.

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