Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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89. To ask the Minister for Social Protection in view of the NESC finding that 23% of households are underemployed, which is more than twice the EU average, if she is concerned that the JobBridge scheme may be exacerbating the underemployment crisis; if her Department has researched the link between the availability of free labour via the JobBridge scheme and the poverty of hours crisis in certain sectors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30870/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am satisfied that JobBridge is not exacerbating under-employment. As independent research has shown it significantly improves the chances of unemployed jobseekers moving into employment. In addition JobBridge is not free labour as suggested by the question – it is an internship scheme which provides unemployed jobseekers with valuable workplace experience and training. In this regard while host organisations do not pay the interns, they are required to invest considerable resources in providing interns with a high-quality real-workplace experience, including mentoring, so as to increase the intern’s employability and help them to bridge the gap to employment. Interns continue to receive their Social Welfare payments plus an extra €50 per week as a contribution to costs incurred in participating in JobBridge.