Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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33. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide the details of the external review into the JobBridge scheme she commissioned before Dáil Éireann is dissolved. [1215/16]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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JobBridge, the National Internship Scheme, was introduced in July 2011 in response to the unprecedented collapse in the economy – particularly the sharp increase in unemployment.

The primary aim of the scheme is to give unemployed people the opportunity to secure work experience and prove their competence to prospective employers. To date, JobBridge has attracted the voluntary participation of over 45,100 interns and encouraged over 18,000 Host Organisations to offer them a wide range of work experience opportunities. There are currently almost 4,600 people on internships.

A commitment was given in Pathways to Work 2015 to develop and implement a robust evaluation programme to assess the impact of Pathways to Work initiatives and identify potential areas for future attention. A formal Request for Tender for the Design and Implementation of an Evaluation of the Suitability, Effectiveness and Relevance of the JobBridge Activation Programme was issued on 7 September 2015 via eTenders and OJEU. The closing date for receipt of proposals was 19 October 2015.

Following the assessment of tenders, the contract for the external evaluation was awarded to Indecon International Economic Consultants in association with London Economics. The project formally commenced on 24 November 2015.

The aim of the evaluation is to assess the suitability, relevance and effectiveness of the JobBridge internship programme to date, and will include:

- A comprehensive qualitative assessment of host organisation and participant perspectives on the quality and future of JobBridge, including one-to-one case studies.

- A robust assessment of deadweight and displacement.

- A detailed counterfactual impact evaluation.

It is expected that preliminary results from the evaluation will be provided by April 2016 and that a final report will be published shortly thereafter. The results will provide an evidential basis upon which to consider how the scheme might best be improved.