Participants in the Government’s JobBridge internship scheme can now undertake an 18-month placement, whereas up to now the placements only lasted for a maximum of nine months.
Making the announcement this evening, Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said that interns can now take on three placements, rather than just two, which was the previous limit.
These moves are just a few of the changes that have been made to the scheme through recommendations made in the independent Indecon report released earlier in the year.
The “cooling off” period for host organisations, which prevents them from taking on other JobBridge interns immediately, will be waived when the intern goes directly into employment.
Ms Burton said more than 20,000 internships have taken place in more than 9,000 companies. The counties that have the most JobBridge interns are Dublin, Cork and Galway, while the three with the least are Leitrim, Roscommon and Longford.
Ms Burton said she was delighted with the results of JobBridge so far.
“The experience of JobBridge participants at the FAI demonstrates the success of the scheme, for interns and employers alike. JobBridge is proving its worth in helping people get back to work,” she said.