Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 115: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the safeguards in place to guarantee that employees participating on the national internship programme are not exploited and achieve their objectives. [28891/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The JobBridge scheme has a number of measures designed to protect the intern and to ensure the integrity of the JobBridge scheme. In order for all applications from host organisations to be approved they must meet a number of criteria so as to ensure that the potential internships are of sufficient quality. These include the following:

that the internship does not allow the intern to work unsupervised;

that the internship is not displacing an employee;

that the intern accrues significant experience throughout the entire internship.

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 and states the specific learning outcomes the intern will receive over the course of their internship. At the end of an internship, host organisations must supply the intern with a reference which includes a statement of all training undergone by the intern as part of the internship. 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.

This involves the monitoring of monthly compliance reports that are required to be submitted by the host organisation verifying that the internship is proceeding as set out in the Standard Internship Agreement. In addition, contact with the host organisations and interns including random site visits will begin shortly as part of this process. The scheme also has a 'whistle blowing' feature where any individual who suspects that an internship may be in breach of the scheme's criteria, including in cases of suspected displacement or poor quality, may contact the National Call Centre. All such claims will be investigated.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 116: To ask the Minister for Social Protection her views on whether the JobBridge programme needs to be re-evaluated to reflect the growing unemployment here. [28878/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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JobBridge, the National Internship Scheme, came into operation on 1st July 2011. My Department has been given sanction to offer at any one time 5,000 internships for unemployed individuals. As of Friday 7th October a total of 1,769 individuals have commenced an internship. In addition, there are currently 2,477 internships opportunities being advertised on the JobBridge website. While I am happy with the progress JobBridge has made in a little over 3 months, it is too early to consider whether the scheme needs to be expanded. However, my Department will continue to monitor the scheme closely.

While JobBridge is an important component of the Government's response in tackling Ireland's unemployment problem, it is just one of a number of activation measures on offer. The Government is providing a wide range of labour market activation measures designed to assist those who are unemployed. The Jobs Initiative, which was launched last May contains an additional 20,900 education, training and internship places for the unemployed. These labour market activation measures aim to provide unemployed people with enhanced opportunities to maintain and develop their skills and competencies and to improve their prospects of securing employment. Tackling Ireland's unemployment problem remains a priority of the Government and it will continue to require a whole of Government response.