Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent)
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114. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider amending the eligibility criteria for the jobbridge scheme to allow a person complete more than one internship beyond the current limit of nine months to facilitate those who have not yet secured employment and who wish to improve their employment prospects by gaining more experience. [19667/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Since it commenced on 1 July, 2011, Jobbridge has made exceptional progress. At 18 April, 2013, 16,545 had commenced internships, 5,947 individuals were on internships and 2,452 internship opportunities were advertised. The recent independent evaluation of the Scheme found that 61% of interns have progressed into employment on within five months of completing their internship. This represents very significant progress in a short period of time and compares very favourably with outcomes of similar schemes across Europe.

JobBridge is a short-term and targeted intervention. It has been launched in a targeted way to allocate scarce exchequer resources to make maximum impact for long term unemployment while ensuring that it does not replace or displace the normal operation of the labour market, which is an essential element of Ireland’s economic recovery. It is essential to strike a balance between our commitments to combat unemployment through the up-skilling opportunities provided by quality internship placements that offer real workplace experience, on the one hand, and the potential to destabilise the normal functioning of the labour market and a consequent reduction of opportunities for permanent employment, on the other.

The Department of Social Protection does not allow for exceptions in the nine-month limit at present. Currently, a jobseeker may partake in a maximum of two internships to a maximum cumulative time period of 9 months. However, the independent evaluation of the Scheme is currently being finalised by Indecon International Economic Consultants. Part of its remit includes recommendations on how the Scheme might be improved or expanded. The final report will be published at the beginning of May. At that stage, I will give further consideration to amending the terms and conditions of the Scheme.