Criteria for the national internship scheme, JobBridge, has changed from this week and Mayo TD Dara Calleary has raised concerns about the Government’s failure to publicise the fact that thousands more people will now be eligible to apply for a work placement under the scheme.
“From this week on, many unemployed people in Mayo and across the country who were not previously eligible for JobBridge are now eligible to apply. That means they can apply for a suitable internship in order to boost their skills and bring them back into the workplace,” said Deputy Calleary.
“Until now, a large proportion of job seekers have been excluded from the scheme due to the strict criteria. Participants were required to be on the Live Register for at least three months and were excluded if they had taken part in any other training course or employment scheme. It has now emerged that the Government has agreed to relax this following heavy criticism. However, they have completely failed to properly advertise the fact that changes have been made so job-seekers may not be aware of it.
“We now have a situation where thousands of unemployed people who were not previously eligible for JobBridge are now eligible, but may not know it.”
Dep Calleary asked where the sense was in making a positive move to open up the scheme to more people on the Live Register, but not immediately advertise the change adequately in order to ensure that they were fully aware of it.
“It is important that Mayo job seekers are fully aware that from this week on, those on the Live Register who have engaged in other employment or training schemes will not be excluded from JobBridge. I am calling on Minister Joan Burton to ensure this is widely publicised so that this scheme can begin helping more people to get back to work.”
Dep John O’Mahony also welcomed the changes saying: “These improvements will help more of my constituents benefit from the JobBridge scheme. These internships offer a valuable opportunity to many people, in terms of engaging in practical experience in the workplace, while learning new skills. The original version of the scheme announced was worthy, but certainly had limitations. These changes will mean that people who find themselves unemployed will now have immediate access to internships under the JobBridge scheme.”
