Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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170. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of participants under 25 years of age, by county, who have commenced a JobBridge internship since July 2011. [11253/15]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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186. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her views that a JobBridge payment of €50, on top of a person's social welfare payment, while working for nine months as a waiter or waitress constitutes appropriate training and development experience. [11379/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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206. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of participants who were on a €100 or €144 weekly jobseeker's allowance payment prior to commencing a JobBridge internship since July 2011; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11736/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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207. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the annual cost of increasing the weekly top-up payment from €50 to €100 for JobBridge participants who are in receipt of €150 and €194 per week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11737/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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208. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the annual cost of increasing the weekly top-up payment from €50 to €100 for all those on the JobBridge scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11738/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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209. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the annual income generated if host organisations were required to make a contribution of €500 to her Department for each JobBridge internship commenced in 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11739/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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210. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her proposed econometric analysis and evaluation of JobBridge including the terms of reference, the name of the body or agency carrying out the analysis, when the study will commence and when she expects the results to be available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11740/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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211. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if the proposed econometric analysis and evaluation of JobBridge will examine progression rates to employment across sectors of the labour market; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11741/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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212. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to restrict or close the JobBridge scheme to host organisations or sectors of the labour market with low levels of progression to employment and where there is evidence of job displacement and abuse; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11742/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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213. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to review the current monitoring procedures for JobBridge, in view of reports that some host organisations were circumventing the six months cooling-off period by making minor changes to subsequent internship titles or roles; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11743/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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214. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reasons her Department does not collect data on the number of times the cooling-off period in JobBridge is waived; her plans to change this policy in view of the serious consequences if the cooling-off period is abused; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11744/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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215. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her views on the development of a charter of rights for interns who are participating on the JobBridge scheme; her plans to put such a charter on a statutory basis to enhance the protection of interns; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11745/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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216. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to review the mentoring on JobBridge in view of reports that many interns received little or no mentoring; if she will require all designated mentors to undergo training to improve the quality of mentoring which is vital to delivering quality internships; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11746/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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217. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to proceed with the first steps youth developmental internship programme in view of concerns expressed about the mandatory nature of the scheme and the potential exploitation of young persons who, unlike those participating in JobBridge will not be able to leave a poor quality internship; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11747/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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218. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the proposed short preparation course for participants on the first steps youth developmental internship programme, including the length of the course, the training providers, the number of participants per course, the content of the course; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11748/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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219. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the budget for the first steps youth developmental internship programme in 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11749/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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220. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of places which have been committed to by host organisations to date for the first steps youth developmental internship programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11750/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 170, 186, and 206 to 220, inclusive, together.

JobBridge has made significant progress since its inception in July 2011. As of 19^thMarch 2015, over 38,269 interns had commenced on the scheme, while there are 6,033 interns currently participating on the programme. There are currently 1,086 internships advertised on the JobsIreland website.

The numbers of JobBridge interns under 25 years of age by County of serving local welfare office are attached in table 1.

The Department does not routinely maintain separate records of an intern's rate of Social Welfare payments prior to commencing and during the internship. As noted there are currently 6,033 individuals on JobBridge. The cost of paying those interns an extra €50 per week would amount to circa €11.76m over a nine month period of an internship.

A total of 11,606 internships commenced between 30^thDecember, 2013 and 18^thDecember, 2014. A contribution of €500 in respect of each of these internships would amount to €5,803,000 in respect of 2014.

The €50 weekly top-up paid to interns is in acknowledgement of extra expenses that may be incurred over and above those of the normal job search. It is not related to training and development expenses. There is nothing to prevent a Host Organisations reimbursing an Intern for expenses incurred as part of the internship. However, expenses should not be provided for normal activities such as travel to and from the main location of the internship.

The purpose of JobBridge is to help unemployed jobseekers break the cycle whereby they cannot find a job without appropriate experience but cannot find appropriate experience without a job. To date it has been very successful in delivering on this objective with this success being partly attributable to the wide variety of internship opportunities that it supports.

Given that unemployed jobseekers are drawn from many walks of life and have varying levels of work experience and educational qualifications it is essential that Internship opportunities cover many occupations/disciplines from high skill specialist placements to lower skilled general placements. Therefore JobBridge opportunities are not confined to the type internships that were, and continue to be a feature of, some 'white collar' professions.

Pathways to Work 2015 includes a commitment to evaluate a range of activation processes and programmes, including JobBridge. A high level evaluation work plan has been agreed and endorsed by the Labour Market Council. The Department is currently in the process of implementing the work plan, which will consist of a number of separate evaluations across a number of programmes including JobBridge. These evaluations will assess the impacts of programmes in terms of employment outcomes for participants. It is expected that the evaluation of JobBridge will commence later in 2015 with results anticipated by Q1 2016.

I have no plans at present to restrict internships in sectors with low levels of progression into employment. JobBridge interns gain marketable skills and work experience that can take them into employment in organisations and sectors other than those with which they participate in JobBridge. An independent evaluation of JobBridge found only minimal levels of displacement. The Department takes any complaints of abuse of the JobBridge Scheme seriously. All such complaints are investigated thoroughly, and necessary action is taken, if required. The Department also operates a monitoring system to ensure that all internships are of a high quality. If any individual knows of specific instances of abuse of JobBridge details should be provided to the Department for investigation.

Host Organisations are also subject to conditions, including cooling-off periods, to limit any abuse of the scheme. If an internship finishes and the Intern concerned is unsuccessful in gaining employment the Host Organisation is subject to a six month cooling off period before they can re-advertise an internship in the same filed of work. In circumstances where an intern moves into employment with either the host organisation or another organisation the cooling off period of six months is waived. The Department does not routinely keep records of the number of times the cooling-off period is waived.

With regard to levels of dissatisfaction interns and host organisation can contact the dedicated JobBridge team, the established Departmental complaints system and the staff at the local Intreo centres to register any concerns that they might have.

A charter is already in place in the form of a standard agreement that must be signed by the intern and the host organisation. It is not in the form of a statutory obligation as JobBridge is an administrative (i.e., non-statutory) scheme.

Each host organisation are required to nominate an individual to support and/or mentor the Intern during the placement. This person will have responsibility to ensure that the Intern receives a proper induction, ensure that the work experience as described in the standard agreement is progressing, and that monthly compliance checks are being completed (to ensure the Internship allowance continues to be paid by DSP). If an organisation has a formal mentoring programme, they include the Intern in this programme. The Department provides a range of resources and toolkits to support the mentoring of interns. Host organisations are instructed to read these carefully before offering an internship.

First Steps is a new under which employers are being asked to sponsor work experience places of four days duration per week for very disadvantaged young people. All participants will be selected by the Department of Social Protection (not as under JobBridge by the host organisation), will be allocated a dedicated case officer throughout their placement and will receive pre-placement training. The Department of Social Protection will only select clients who are available for, and whom it believes will benefit from, a First Steps placement. In such circumstances the Department believes clients should have a very strong reason not to participate and in the absence of such a reason participation should be mandatory. The short preparation course for participants will be provided by Education and Training Boards and will consist of basic workplace skills and etiquette, timekeeping and communication skills and will last approximately one week. A total of €57.111m has been allocated for First Steps up to the end of 2017. As of 19^thMarch, 89 places have been committed by host organisations for the First Steps programme.

JobBridge Interns under 25 by County

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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171. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the total number of JobBridge participants who were awarded a training employment support grant since July 2011. [11254/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The numbers of JobBridge participants awarded a Training Employment Support Grant (TESG) are only available from 2012 when my Department took over the administration of the scheme.

The number of JobBridge participants who were supported by TESG for the period 2012 to end of February 2015 is 1,976.