Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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113. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider correspondence from a person (details supplied) who is seeking a suitable internship placement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21649/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department has been in direct contact with the individual referred to by the Deputy since February 2013. The individual has completed one internship and is currently undertaking a second. The intern is seeking to finish a second internship and be permitted to undertake a third.

In the first instance, the intern was dissatisfied with the activities assigned to him but withdrew his complaint the following day. A monitoring visit has been conducted and the Department is satisfied that the host organisation is abiding by the scheme criteria. In the second instance, the intern wishes to finish the internship because he deems it not to be related to his academic qualifications.

Under current guidelines, JobBridge interns may avail of no more than two internships to maximum cumulative period of nine months. The Department is not in a position to make exceptions in this regard. The individual was advised by the Department to consider participating in other schemes such as the Work Placement Programme and referred to the National Contact Centre for further assistance in this respect.