Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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55. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of young persons under 26 years of age who are on the JobBridge scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41943/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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56. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons under 26 years of age who are on the JobBridge scheme and who are in receipt of €150, €194, and €238 per week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41944/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 56 together.

Since the introduction of the JobBridge Scheme on 1 July 2011, a total of 44,394 people have commenced an internship, there are currently 4,766 participants on the scheme, and a total of 1,398 of these are under the age of 26.

Participants on JobBridge receive an internship allowance equivalent to their weekly Social Welfare payment, while they also receive an additional €50 top-up allowance as a contribution towards expenses arising from their participation on the scheme. The rate of a Jobseekers Allowance weekly payment is related to a person’s age. The maximum payment for a person aged 18-24 years of age is €100 per week, while for a person aged 25 years of age, the maximum weekly payment is €144. It is not possible to give an exact breakdown of the individual payment rates for each cohort of participant on JobBridge, but of the total of 1,398 participants aged under 26 years on the programme, a total of 1,139 are in the age category 18-24 while there currently 259 people aged 25 years participating on the scheme.

The Department has commissioned another independent evaluation of JobBridge, the results of this evaluation are expected in early 2016 and will inform any further changes to the scheme.