Seanad debates

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Adjournment Matters

National Internship Scheme Placements

3:45 pm

Photo of Marie MoloneyMarie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The issue I am raising on the Adjournment is short and to the point. When schools apply for internships in the education sector, they are getting caught up in time constraints. Deadlines have been published but when schools apply, they are advised that the applications will not be authenticated until 1 August. This does not give them much time to advertise, interview and select candidates, and then arrange Garda vetting before the start of the school year. As we all know, Garda vetting takes six to eight weeks at a minimum. There is no way that the schools will be ready to appoint interns at the start of the school year. I refer in particular to St. Brendan's College in Killarney, which has applied for a laboratory technician. Its hands are tied because it cannot do anything until 1 August and the intern has to start at the beginning of the school year if he or she wants to complete a nine-month internship.

I had hoped the Minister for Social Protection would be here because I had wanted to ask her to bring the date for authentication forward to 1 July at the latest. This would give schools a turnaround time of two months once their applications are accepted.

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