The report calls for targeted programmes, aimed at distinct groups with varied labour market integration needs. These include programmes targeting young unemployed early school leavers, graduates, and those experiencing long-term unemployment.

The report, written by Dr Mary Murphy of Maynooth University, says that open market internships displace paid entry level employment, that internships need to be regulated, and that the culture of open market internships needs to be actively discouraged.

Concerns

IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan said that the research was prompted by growing concerns within IMPACT’s Education division at the improper use of the JobBridge scheme following the advertisement of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts on the JobBridge website in autumn 2014.

Kevin said “Even those who welcomed the introduction of JobBridge in 2011 have surely been troubled by the reports of abuse and exploitation which have dogged its reputation and greatly undermined its positive outcomes.

“An argument could be made that even a flawed instrument like JobBridge served some purpose in the context of stemming the tide of our skyrocketing levels of youth unemployment and emigration at the height of the economic collapse, but it is time to move on.” he said.

Regulation

Kevin said that trade unions have a key role to play in the development of more focused and regulated internship programmes and that the widespread lack of proper regulation and monitoring should not be tolerated any longer. “With strong economic growth now returning, and increasing employment levels, we need our labour activation measures to adapt to reflect these changing realities.

“The purpose of this research is to set out a new vision for labour activation and internship schemes. It contains proposals to establish a framework which would see the re-framing, restriction and re-sizing of Irish internship policy, providing a road map to a new and robust system of activation measures and internships in Ireland” he said.

The report recommends:

• That interns should be adequately compensated at the trainee rate of the minimum wage as a stepping stone to decent paid employment
• That the duration of state funded internships should be mediated on a case-by-case basis and  longer internships should offer possibility of progression
• That the number of active labour market internships should be proportionate to, and no more than, 5% of total active labour market interventions
• That internships should not be allowed in the public sector until there is full staffing and the recruitment moratorium is lifted
• That access to internship schemes be facilitated through a regional internship strategy and include working age claimants beyond the live register.

Kevin said that IMPACT strongly recommends that all participation in active labour market measures is voluntary and that support mechanisms are needed to assist vulnerable participants.

Evaluation

Speaking at the launch of the report, Minister of State with responsibility for Employment, Community and Social Support, Kevin Humphreys TD, said “I welcome the IMPACT report on JobBridge and will consider all recommendations. Now that we are in a very different place to where we were four years ago when JobBridge was launched, it is only right that the scheme should be reviewed and revised to take account of changed economic circumstances and operational experience.”

Minister Humphreys said he had met with JobBridge interns who had completely changed their careers and successfully use the JobBridge scheme to combat the problem of not being able to get a job without experience nor experience without a job. “Research shows the longer you are out of work, the harder it is to get back to work. JobBridge is designed to break that cycle” he said.

He added that an in-depth evaluation of jobseeker outcomes from a range of activation programmes, including JobBridge, will be undertaken this year, and that suggestions outlined in the IMPACT report would be taken into account as part of the evaluation.

 The full report and its executive summary are available here.