Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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I welcome the creation of the topical issues debate. Of all the Dáil reforms that are taking place, this is the most significant in terms of shifting the balance in favour of the ordinary Deputy. It puts us centre stage in the middle of the day able to raise issues which are topical and of concern to our constituents and this is extremely important.

Will the Minister for Social Protection considered changing the qualification period for JobBridge from signing on the live register for three months to a shorter period of time? This is to ensure people who are unemployed and who are anxious to apply for vacancies are enabled to do so. Concerns have been raised with me about this issue. I met someone who would like to apply for a JobBridge vacancy but is not in a position to do so because of not being unemployed for long enough and because of not being in receipt of benefits. One must be in receipt of a payment or signing on for credits for three months. The person concerned had not been employed for three months and was not signing on for credits because of not knowing that one could do so or what this means. The person also did not see the point because one does not receive payments for doing so; there is no incentive to sign on for credits.

In my view, this person is very representative of the many people who would not qualify for a jobseeker's payment because of not meeting the means test requirements or not having enough credits to receive unemployment benefit. Most people do not sign on for credits, or they might do so intermittently and give up on it because they do not see the point as it involves a cost for people who do not receive a payment. It would cost people with no income to take the bus to sign on. Prior to this, it was not possible to avail of schemes such as JobBridge by signing on, so there was no incentive for people to do so. Therefore, as people have not been signing on for the required period of time, they are not eligible for JobBridge. A vacancy might be advertised on the site but they cannot apply for it.

Students may also be affected. Students can sign on the live register after finishing a course even though they may not be entitled to a payment but they would have to sign on for three months. Why do applicants need to have signed on for three months to be eligible for one of these vacancies? Many of these vacancies are actually ideal for graduates and those who have just finished a training course. However, they must have to wait and sign on for three months before they can apply for an internship. I do not see the reasoning to this delay. We should be doing everything we can to facilitate people who want to apply for JobBridge vacancies. I recall that to apply for the former social employment schemes, one needed to only have signed on for one week, a move which showed certain flexibility then. There is no logic to the three-month wait for the JobBridge internship scheme when it could easily be just for a week.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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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.

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Will the Minister reconsider or, at least, keep under review the eligibility criteria for the JobBridge programme? The troika and others are somewhat mistaken in insisting on a time requirement for such schemes when it wants to avoid people drifting into long-term unemployment. For example, a person unemployed for two months but who could not sign on until now would have to wait another three months to be eligible for the scheme. In effect, he or she would be unemployed for five months when a suitable vacancy could have been available in that time. The qualifying period for the Springboard scheme has been reduced from six months to zero. Why can such a relaxation of the rules not be applied to the national internship scheme? If we want to prevent people drifting into long-term unemployment, we need to be as flexible as possible.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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We are constantly reviewing every element of the JobBridge scheme because it is the first time we have had an internship scheme in place. I appreciate the Deputy's concerns. However, there is a requirement to show that such a scheme is taking people from the live register. It has only been in place for ten weeks with 1,100 internships. In several months time we will be in a position to evaluate this scheme and learn from the experiences of those offering places, interns and those who wish to join the scheme but are restricted from doing so.

Suggestions have been made to improve access to the scheme already. I am keeping them under review. If the Deputy has examples of appropriate applicants who could not get on the scheme, she can pass the details on to my Department confidentially and we will review them. The response from potential host organisations and employers has been extremely positive. While there have been teething problems and there is a need to ensure quality placements, the feedback from interns so far has been positive. I will keep the Deputy's suggestions under review.