Written answers

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Department of Social Protection

Job Initiatives

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 307 of 20 March 2013, if a person (details supplied) whose internship under jobbridge has ceased, due to the failure of the employer to offer the training agreed, may be treated as a new applicant for the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16560/13]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The JobBridge Scheme has made significant progress since it came into operation. As at 11 April, 2013, 16,326 internships have commenced with 5,944 participants on an internship and 2,410 internship opportunities advertised onas of that date. In my previous response to the Deputy, I informed him that the Department has stringent measures in place to monitor internships and to investigate alleged abuse of the scheme. The individual named by the Deputy forwarded his complaint to JobBridge directly on the 24 March 2013. These allegations were passed to the appropriate divisional officer for investigation. I have been advised by my officials that the investigating officer in relation to this case has been in contact directly with the individual named by the Deputy and is currently in the process of securing a response to these allegations from the host organisation concerned. Pending the outcome of this investigation the National Contact Centre has been advised to suspend any further advertised JobBridge placements from this organisation.

The Department's records show that the individual named by the Deputy has completed almost four months in his placement before his early termination on the 29 March 2013. The current procedures provide that a participant can avail of a maximum of two JobBridge internship opportunities, though the total cumulative time cannot exceed nine months (39 weeks). I will arrange for his eligibility for re-entry to Jobbridge to be reviewed once I receive the report of the investigating officer.

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline the procedure following a complaint under the jobbridge scheme; the number of interns that have left jobbridge early; the number of official complaints that have been made regarding internships; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16561/13]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Deputy will be aware that JobBridge has made exceptional progress since it came into operation on 1 July, 2011. As at 11 April, 2013, 16,326 internships have commenced with 5,944 participants on an internship and 2,410 internship opportunities advertised on as of that date. The recent interim independent evaluation of the scheme conducted by Indecon Economic Consultants found that 61% of individuals who have participated in JobBridge have progressed into employment within five months of completing their internship placements. This high level of progression into employment exceeds that of similar schemes across Europe, suggesting that JobBridge is an appropriate labour market intervention. The Department has stringent measures in place to monitor internships and to investigate alleged abuse of the scheme. Each advertisement is vetted by the National Contact Centre for compliance with scheme criteria. The eligibility of interns is assessed before they are permitted to commence an internship. Host organisations are required to complete monthly monitoring returns. Host organisations are subject to random monitoring visits by officers of the Department. Of the more than 1,600 monitoring visits conducted to date, 97% of internships monitored were found to be operating satisfactorily with remedial action taken in the remaining 3% of cases. The procedures for registering a query or complaint are addressed in the Contact Us section of the JobBridge website.

In addition to regular monitoring, the Department has received 218 complaints that have warranted investigation since the scheme commenced. A total of 15 breaches of the scheme criteria were found to be of a sufficiently serious nature so as to warrant the exclusion of the host organisation from participation in the scheme. The following were some of the key breaches of the scheme: standard Agreement not completed; appropriate Mentoring/Development not being provided; not adhering to Compliance Requirements; and displacement issues. However, it is important to highlight that the overwhelming majority of companies are abiding by the terms and conditions of the scheme. In fact, over 7,500 host organisations have commenced interns since the scheme began, of which a total of 15 companies have been disqualified due to breaches of the scheme. Our analysis indicates that 58% of all interns have left their internship early. While this may appear to be of immediate concern, it is reassuring to highlight that 66% of these interns completed their internship early to take up immediate employment with either their host organisation or another company.

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