Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Niall Carson/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Internships

Joan Burton says 23 companies have been banned from JobBridge

The Social Protection Minister has answered questions about the government’s flagship internship scheme in the Dáil today.

THE SOCIAL PROTECTION Minister Joan Burton has revealed that 23 organisations who registered to use JobBridge have since been banned from using it after they were subjected to monitoring visits.

JobBridge, the government’s flagship internship scheme gives participants, who are on social welfare, an extra €50 a week for work carried out with employers who register with the programme.

Burton told the Dáil this afternoon that some businesses were removed from JobBridge because they had in some cases failed to mentor and develop interns, complete monthly updates or provides references for interns.

She also acknowledged that in some of the 2,200 on-site monitoring visits businesses were found to be using interns to undertake duties of displaced staff.

Burton also told the Dáil that as of 27 June a total of 18,587 internship placements had commenced, with 5,934 participants in active internships and 1,936 internship posts advertised and available on the JobBridge website.

A recent independent study found that around two-thirds of interns who finish placements on the JobBridge scheme secured employment within five months.

Read: 217 people have worked JobBridge internships in government departments

Read: Burton thanks JobBridge critics, says the scheme “isn’t for everyone”

Your Voice
Readers Comments
90
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.