Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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343. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if there is a mechanism whereby a person who is unemployed, but not in receipt of any payment due to a partner's earnings, may access a JobBridge position working with elderly persons as the position has been advertised as a JobBridge position for three weeks now without any applicants; her views on whether jobs in petrol station forecourts are suitable for JobBridge; the steps being taken to ensure that the JobBridge programme is not being abused by some employers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40486/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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JobBridge provides internship opportunities of either 6 or 9 months for unemployed individuals who are in receipt of a Live claim (Jobseekers Allowance/Jobseekers Benefit/One Parent Family Payment/Disability Allowance) or are signing on for credits for at least 3 of the last 6 months (78 Days). Given the large number of people on the live register and the requirement to priorities the allocation of scarce exchequer resources the Department does not allow for any exceptions in relation to the eligibility.

JobBridge is a voluntary scheme. Jobseekers are free to choose to participate or not, and to choose the type of internship and host organisation for which they wish to apply. The success of the scheme is entirely dependent upon host organisations offering internships and jobseekers making themselves available to take-up internships. As a voluntary scheme, JobBridge is not designed to be elitist or to cater only for the needs of specific types of jobseeker and in this respect the wide range of internships available ensures that the needs of people on the Live Register who wish to gain work experience and prove their abilities with an employer, including people with relatively little in the way of formal skills or experience, are met. Accordingly, if all scheme criteria are met, internships in petrol station forecourts can provide such opportunities.

In order to protect the intern and to ensure the integrity of JobBridge, a variety of control measures and criteria have been introduced. These ensure that the internship does not displace an existing position; that it provides appropriate training and development experience; and that appropriate mentoring and support is provided to the intern. In addition to the initial vetting of advertisements and the requirement for the host organisation to participate in monthly compliance reporting, the Department conducts site visits to facilitate discussions with both parties to the internship. These monitoring visits comprise a combination of randomised visits/inspections with host organisations and of the investigation of complaints received from interns or concerned individuals. The Department treats such complaints very seriously. In this regard, over 3,000 monitoring visits have been conducted to-date with encouragingly 98% of these visits of a satisfactory nature. Remedial action is taken in cases of non-compliance.

Any allegations of abuse are investigated by the Department as a matter of priority and, where such allegations are substantiated those organisations are disqualified from any future participation in JobBridge. The overwhelming majority of host organisations are abiding by the terms and conditions of the JobBridge scheme. Over 9,000 host organisations have commenced interns and as at September 2013, only 26 host organisations have been excluded from further participation in JobBridge for breaches of the terms and conditions of the Scheme.