Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, the Government unveiled the so-called work placement experience programme. It is a new free labour scheme for bosses whereby workers will get less than the pandemic unemployment payment and will be expected to live below the poverty line while working. Put simply, it is JobBridge 2.0. Workers on the scheme will get an extra €3.43 an hour for working 30 hours a week for six months without a guaranteed job at the end of it. Bosses can have up to ten workers on the scheme without paying a single cent. This will actively discourage the creation of real jobs. When JobBridge was abolished, the Indecon report commissioned by the Government made ten proposals for any replacement scheme. Of those ten, the Government has ignored seven. What is the point in commissioning reports if the Government is just going to ignore them? The Taoiseach says the new scheme will be policed by new caseworkers while the Pathways to Work strategy speaks about expanding the role of private contracted companies, such as Seetec and Turas Nua, in handling cases.

See this speech in context