Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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355. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on jobbridge (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18502/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Since it commenced on 1 July, 2011, Jobbridge has made speedy progress. At 18 April, 2013, 16,545 people had commenced internships, 5,947 people were on internships and 2,452 internship opportunities were advertised as available on the JobBridge.ie website. In the context of Budget 2013, the Government increased the number of JobBridge places from 6,000 to 8,500. Accordingly, the previous closing date for applications for internships of 30 June, 2013, no longer applies. This information has been conveyed on the JobBridge website . The recent interim independent evaluation of the scheme conducted by Indecon Economic Consultants found that 61% of individuals who participated in JobBridge 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.