Written answers

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

Department of Social Protection

Departmental Schemes

10:00 pm

Photo of Timmy DooleyTimmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Question 52: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she has identified the barriers to successful implementation of the placement and internship programme; and if so, her proposals to remove these barriers. [21073/11]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The National Internship Scheme JobBridge is a key part of the Government's Jobs Initiative. It will provide up to 5,000 unemployed people with an internship opportunity ranging from 6 to 9 months in an organisation in the private, public or community and voluntary sectors. During this time participants will receive an allowance, which will consist of a €50 per week top up on their existing social welfare entitlements. The Internship scheme will assist in breaking that cycle whereby unemployed people cannot get a job without experience, either as new entrants to the labour market after education or training or as unemployed workers whose existing skills will not be appropriate to the types of jobs that will emerge in post- recession Ireland. The scheme will give young people a real opportunity to gain valuable experience to bridge the gap between study and the beginning of their working lives.

In order for the scheme to be a success, host organisations must offer meaningful internships that allow participants to enhance their current skills and to learn new ones. To this end, a clear set of rules have been developed to protect the intern and safeguard JobBridge from potential abuse.

In order for an application from a host organisation to be put up on the JobBridge site it must meet a number of criteria so as to ensure that the potential internship is one of quality. These include the following:

· That the placement does not allow the intern to work unsupervised;

· That the intern accrues significant experience throughout the entire placement;

· That an internship will not be approved where, in the absence of the intern, the organisation would have to recruit an employee to carry out the tasks identified in the internship.

Following this application process, in order for an internship to commence, a Standard Internship Agreement must be signed by both the intern and the host organisation. This Agreement clearly stipulates the terms of the internship including the maximum number of hours an intern is expected to work in a week, their entitlement to rest breaks, annual leave and sick leave. To ensure compliance with the scheme the Department of Social Protection and the Employment Services Division of FÁS are monitoring internships to ensure that they are of sufficient quality and that both host organisations and interns are abiding by the spirit and the rules of the scheme.

In this regard, each host organisation will be required to submit monthly compliance reports verifying that the internship is proceeding as set out in the Standard Internship Agreement.

Also, the Employment Services of FÁS will undertake random site visits of internships as part of this process. In addition, a 'whistle blowing' feature has been introduced where any individual who suspects that an internship may be in breach of the scheme's criteria may contact the National Call Centre. All such claims will be investigated.

The control mechanisms and conditions have been put in place to protect the integrity of the scheme and to ensure that the intern and host organisation both benefit from the arrangement.

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