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

It is. It is also lowering pay and creating under-employment in this State. I will prove that with data from the Indecon report which the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection continuously quotes to me when I raise concerns about JobBridge and other schemes.

The Indecon report found that 30% of employers said that they would create a job if JobBridge did not exist; that is under-employment. We have also seen headlines about the abuse of the scheme and about the fact that the Department of Social Protection has allowed internships to be promoted which otherwise would have been entry-level jobs. If one visits the JobBridge website today, one will see that six out of the first ten positions advertised are for retail or office staff. It does not take six to nine months to learn how to stack shelves; nor does it take nine months to learn how to pick potatoes in Donegal. I ask the Minister to ensure that the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection scraps the JobBridge scheme and reverts to creating apprenticeships and appropriate internships. I also ask him to ensure that her Department, in conjunction with the Department of Education and Skills, ensures that in-work training and in-education training become the norm rather than JobBridge.

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