Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's use of the phrase "improving the business environment" gives the game away. The approach of the Fine Gael Party, to which the Labour Party has unfortunately acquiesced, is based on the idea that the State cannot create jobs but can only create the environment in which big business can create them. To achieve this end, businesses must be incentivised. This approach lies at the heart of the Action Plan for Jobs and its extent is demonstrated in the case study on page 72 of the 2015 action plan. It refers to a company which receives free labour through JobBridge for nine months and subsequently hires the same intern through JobsPlus, for which it receives an additional €10,000 from the State. From the employer's point of view, the pretence of training usually associated with the schemes is dropped and she freely admits that JobBridge and JobsPlus are now the "backbone" of her "growing business". At the heart of the action plan is a transfer of wealth from taxpayers to employers. More than 80,000 people are on activation schemes, many of whom are being grossly exploited. A review of JobBridge has been alluded to. What is the status of this review? Is the Government open to abolishing the scheme?

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