The 23 organisations who abused the Government’s JobBridge programme should be named, Fianna Fáil social protection spokesman Willie O’Dea said.

He said he did not deny that the programme had enjoyed some success or that the vast majority of organisations had behaved in a responsible manner. “That is what they are supposed to do.’’

Mr O'Dea said he had tabled a question to Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton on the issue and was told she was not prepared to name them because, for some obscure reason, it might affect employment levels and the economy.

Ms Burton said there had been a total of 2,200 on-site monitoring visits of 7,500 organisations participating in the programme. “That is a high number of visits compared to the total number of organisations,” she said.

She said reasons for excluding organisations included a failure to complete or adhere to the standard agreement, requiring a high-quality experience and a reference for the intern.

She said organisations were getting the value of the qualifications, experience, creativity and energy of the interns and, in return, they were asked to offer a high quality experience and fulfil certain conditions.

“If they do not, we will withdraw their sanction. However, 23 out of 7,500 organisations represents a low rate of failure,” she said.

Mr O’Dea said the organisations involved suffered no punitive process other than being deprived of the opportunity to continue abusing JobBridge. They had not been named and shamed, which he regarded as the appropriate punishment.