Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The national internship scheme, JobBridge, was launched on 1 July 2011. It provides internship opportunities of six or nine months for unemployed people on the live register in organisations in the private, public, community and voluntary sectors. Its aim is to assist in breaking the cycle whereby jobseekers are unable to get a job without experience. It gives such people an opportunity to gain valuable experience, relevant knowledge and skills in a working environment. The JobBridge scheme has made significant progress since it came into operation on 1 July 2011. Some 13,049 internships have commenced to date. As of 13 December last, some 5,612 participants are on internships and some 2,235 opportunities are advertised on jobbridge.ie. An interim evaluation of JobBridge, which was conducted by Indecon international economic consultants and published on 5 October 2012, found that 52.3% of JobBridge finishers have progressed into employment with their host organisation or another employer since finishing their internship. As the study pointed out, this is one of the best outcomes in Europe for a work placement programme.

I wish to advise the Senator that to date 2,645 placements, or 22% of the total, have been in the public service. The interim evaluation report that was published by Indecon in October 2012 found that 49% of interns who finished their internships in the public sector are now in paid employment. The report found that 27% of those interns who finished their placements in the public sector are now in paid employment with their host organisations. The other 22% of interns who progressed into employment did so with other organisations. A significant proportion of those progressing into employment with other organisations did so on foot of the high-quality skills and experience they gained during their internships. For the purposes of the Indecon report, the public sector was deemed to include the community and voluntary sectors. It must be acknowledged that the progression outcomes into employment from placements in the public sector are encouraging.

One of the main benefits of JobBridge for interns is that the scheme gives participants an opportunity to gain new job skills and high-quality work experience. Many interns consider that the scheme improves their chances of gaining employment. Some 89.3% of interns believe JobBridge has given them new skills. The scheme helps to boost participants' self-confidence, assists them in identifying job opportunities suitable to their abilities, keeps them close to the job market and helps them to establish contacts and networks. The scheme has had positive effects on the subsequent employment chances of participants who would not have secured employment in the absence of the scheme. The findings suggest the scheme has been an effective labour market intervention, in terms of achieving movement off the live register.

JobBridge is a pillar of the Government's jobs initiative, which was announced in May 2011. Its goal is to help people seeking employment to gain valuable work experience and enhance their prospects of getting a job. I am delighted that an independent review of the scheme has found that this goal is being achieved. This is a scheme for a particular set of people - those who unfortunately find themselves unemployed. It is not for everybody. I continuously meet people and their parents who tell me the scheme has been strongly positive for them. The Senator will appreciate that it is very rewarding to hear that at a time when many fine people unfortunately find themselves without jobs.