Speaking this week in response to parliamentary question responses received from the office of the Minister for Social Protection, Sinn Féin councillor Thérèse Ruane has said has said that real jobs in the public sector are being displaced by cheap labour provided by JobBridge interns. She said “Here in Mayo, 152 cheap interns are being exploited under the JobsBridge scheme in public sector bodies while 44 JobBridge interns are being used by Mayo County Council.”
She said, “Responses to Sinn Féin parliamentary questions show that almost 5,000 real jobs in the public sector have been substituted with cheap interns under the JobBridge scheme. Three local authorities are particularly guilty of this displacement, with Mayo not far behind with 44 cheap interns being used to displace real jobs in Mayo County Council. Almost one in four JobBridge internships is taking place in the public sector. The 4,944 JobBridge interns engaged by public sector bodies are doing work that should be undertaken by properly paid employees. This is 100 per cent displacement of real jobs. They have no hope of gaining employment with their host at the end of their internship because the recruitment embargo prohibits it. Almost 60 per cent of JobBridge participants in the public sector do not go on to gain any type of paid employment in any sector after their internship. There is a recruitment embargo in our public sector so there is no chance of these 152 interns obtaining a job following their intermship. The work should be carried out by properly paid employees and give real opportunities to people."
