A DONEGAL county councillor has today blasted his own council – for using the JobBridge scheme to fill 84 positions.
Due to the public sector recruitment ban NONE of them can be offered jobs at the end of the scheme.
Inishowen Sinn Féin councillor Jack Murray has said that new responses from the government to parliamentary questions further reveals the true extent of the exploitation of the JobBridge scheme in the public sector.
Cllr Murray also said that the JobBridge figures in Donegal County Council are higher than previously reported.
Cllr Murray, who recently highlighted the use of JobBridge interns as water meter installers in Donegal said that real jobs in the public sector are being displaced by cheap labour provided by JobBridge interns.
Cllr Murray said: “Recent 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. Unfortunately, Donegal County Council is particularly guilty of this displacement using some 84 interns so far.
“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% displacement of real jobs.
“The government claims that the JobBridge scheme is intended to be a training scheme for young people to enter real employment. How can this be so if it stills enforces an embargo which prevents any of the interns in government bodies from being recruited full-time after their internship is completed?
“Furthermore, almost 60% of JobBridge participants in the public sector do not go on to gain any type of paid employment, in any sector, after their internship.
“Donegal, Galway and Cork County councils are particularly guilty of exploiting the scheme to compensate for government imposed funding shortfalls and the recruitment embargo as they used 84, 81 and 100 free interns respectively. This is in comparison to much larger councils like Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin County Council which used 14, 12 and 9 interns.
“Worse still, no one gained employment in Donegal County Council after their internship was completed. Clearly they were used to try and fill the gap caused by the reduction of our council staff by almost a third in recent years.
“In light of this recent information, I would call for a complete overhaul of the JobBridge scheme and fair wages for all those carrying out full-time work. No government representative can defend this cynical exploitation of the young unemployed.”
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