John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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332. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the average cost per job created in Enterprise Ireland-supported companies, which increased almost three-fold in the previous decade, has decreased since the JobBridge National Internship Programme commenced in mid-2011. [19057/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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JobBridge is a National Internship Scheme that provides work experience placements for interns for a 6 or 9 month period. The aim of the National Internship Scheme is to assist in breaking the cycle where jobseekers are unable to get a job without experience, either as new entrants to the labour market after education or training or as unemployed workers wishing to learn new skills. The scheme provides work experience placements in the private, public and voluntary sectors. Interns receive an allowance of €50 per week on top of their existing social welfare entitlement. This is payable for the period of the internship. While the scheme has been availed of by client companies of the enterprise development agencies, it does not directly result in an increase in the employment associated with those companies (i.e. participants are interns receiving social welfare payments, and not full-time employees receiving a salary from the placement).

The Forfás Employment Survey does not capture data in relation to the number of Job Bridge participants in client companies of the development agencies. Table 1 sets out the Enterprise Ireland cost per job over the period 2002-2011. The Cost per Job Sustained measure is calculated by Forfás and takes into account all direct agency expenditure on all client companies in a seven year period. Only jobs created during, and sustained at the end of each seven year period are represented in the calculations. The number of JobBridge participants is not associated with these calculations, and therefore the scheme will not have any direct impact on the cost per job in the development agencies. The 2012 figure will be calculated and reported as part of the Enterprise Ireland Annual Report and Accounts for 2012, due to be published in mid-2013.

Since 2007 the cost per job sustained has increased. The reasons for this are largely threefold:

Table 1- EI Cost per Job Sustained 2002-2011