€20m scheme has only put eight in jobs

THE Government's €20m jobs initiative has only set up eight internships in its first two weeks of operations, despite advertising hundreds of positions.

The Department of Social Protection has been inundated with applications from businesses and county councils seeking to partake in the scheme. To date, more than 700 internships are on offer on www.jobbridge.ie.

While some of Ireland's top businesses are interested in taking on interns -- companies like Quinn Group, Smurfit Kappa, and Aer Lingus have all signed up to jobbridge -- very few of the country's 400,000 social welfare recipients are applying for positions on the national internship scheme.

To date, only 65 individuals have been selected to participate in the jobbridge scheme. Out of these, only 27 met the criteria to qualify for the scheme. In order to qualify, an individual must be in receipt of Jobseekers' Benefit for at least six months. Only eight individuals have started internships.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/euro20m-scheme-has-only-put-eight-in-jobs-2823683.html