John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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137. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of participants in County Mayo on the JobBridge scheme to date; the number who have now completed their internships; the number who have successfully entered the workforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43937/14]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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151. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the percentage and the number of persons participating in JobBridge schemes who will achieve full-time employment after their scheme in the first 12 months; if she will provide other statistics regarding the success rates associated with the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44288/14]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 137 and 151 together.

JobBridge has made very significant progress since it came into operation on 1 July 2011. As at 14 November 2014, a total of 35,167 internships have commenced with 6,676 participants currently on a JobBridge placement, and 2,078 internship posts currently advertised on the JobBridge website.

In County Mayo, there have been a total of 935 internships since the scheme commenced. Of this, 198 are currently on a placement, with 737 internships completed at this point in time. A total of 218 of these interns progressed into employment, either with their host organisation or another organisation on completion of their JobBridge placement.

Progression into employment on completion of an internship understates the impact of the scheme as many people use their work experience to apply for and secure employment in the months immediately following the internship. In this regard, an independent evaluation of JobBridge found that 61% of individuals who have participated in the scheme have progressed into employment within five months of completing their internship placements. A total of 45.2% of these were in full-time permanent employment, 9.3% were in part-time permanent employment, 35.0% were in full-time temporary employment and 10.5% were in part-time temporary employment. The majority of these have progressed to employment with their host organisations, while the remainder took the skills and experiences gained during their internship to employment in the wider labour market. This high level of progression into employment exceeds that of similar schemes across Europe.

I am confident that JobBridge will continue as a positive activation programme, and that the scheme will display similar progression rates into employment, into the future.