Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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335. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons employed on the JobBridge scheme in County Longford over the past three years; and the number of persons who participated on this scheme who were offered a full-time position after their internship. [17492/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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JobBridge has made very significant progress since it came into operation on 1^stJuly 2011. As at 3^rdApril 2014, 27,506 internship placements have commenced with 6,603 participants currently on a JobBridge placement and 2,588 internship posts currently advertised on the JobBridge website.

To date, 209 internship placements have been taken up in County Longford. Of this 53 are currently on a placement and 156 have completed. See Table 1 below for a breakdown by year. The progression outcomes for County Longford are not recorded separately from national data. At a national level an independent evaluation has found that over 30% of interns progress directly into employment immediately on finishing a placement and that this progression rate increases to 61% five months after completion. These progression outcomes compare favourably with similar schemes across the OECD.

Table 1: Placement breakdown by year in County Longford as at 3^rdApril 2014.