The Siptu union has called for an immediate end to JobBridge, and similar “free labour schemes”.

A comparatively small number of people participate in the JobBridge training programme that Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar plans to replace after the summer, official figures published yesterday show.

Sinn Féin says it will send Leo Varadkar its alternative plans for the JobBridge scheme.

Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar has confirmed JobBridge could be axed as early as September.

New Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar has confirmed that the controversial JobBridge scheme could end as early as September, writes Daniel McConnell, Political Editor.

John Halligan has said he will do everything in his power as a junior minister to get rid of the “unfair” and much “abused” JobBridge scheme.

Almost 22,000 applications by companies to take part in the Government’s JobBridge scheme have been rejected since 2012, the Department of Social Protection confirmed.

The number of people dropping out of the Government’s JobBridge national internship programme early each year is almost as high as those who are completing the scheme, figures show.

The head of the largest body representing students in Ireland has described the JobBridge scheme as “one of the worst things to happen to young people in Ireland in decades”.

Businesses were barred from using the JobBridge scheme following allegations that interns were assaulted, bullied, had their safety compromised, and were forced to work unfair hours.

Leaving Certificate exam setters have reversed their view that JobBridge is not aimed at creating employment — but only after it became clear that hundreds of students believe it is.

The country’s largest teaching union has described JobBridge as “exploitative” and urged teachers who are looking for work not to do so under the Government’s work placement scheme.

Two senators have criticised the HSE’s decision to use JobBridge to hire a clinical psychologist to work within its mental health services in Waterford.

The HSE has defended using JobBridge to hire a clinical psychologist to work with its mental health services in Waterford.

The Government’s controversial Job Bridge scheme could be scrapped within months after the Coalition launched an external review into alleged abuse of the system and whether the economic recovery means it is now obsolete.

JobBridge and other schemes designed to help unemployed young people are in danger of being a very expensive waste of money, a report by the European Court of Auditors warned.

The Department of Social Protection has been accused of ignoring JobBridge interns’ genuine concerns after rejecting calls to double the money they receive, claiming the State cannot afford the increase.

A teachers’ union has suspended 16 members for up to five months over the last two years for breaking a ban on co-operation with the JobBridge internship scheme.

The Department of Social Protection will “consider” calls to reform the controversial JobBridge scheme in a review later this year — but has failed to give a straight answer to key recommendations put forward by an independent report.

Major reform of the JobBridge scheme is being urged, after it emerged that nearly a third of interns remain unemployed after completing the programme.

The Department of Social Protection has been urged to double the money it gives to JobBridge interns as part of detailed recommendations set to be outlined in an independent report today.

Social Protection Minister Joan Burton has denied that JobBridge is a Government "exercise in reducing the tally of numbers on the live register" to imply a decrease in the level of social welfare assistance provided by the State.

The folks over at RTÉ's Republic of Telly knocked it out of the park last night with a bit of political satire, in the form of cinematic revelation 12 Years of JobBridge.

Almost 1,600 long-term unemployed have been taken off the Live Register in the last eight months by employers who signed up to the Government’s JobsPlus employment scheme.

The HSE’s bid to cut costs has seen it fill 172 JobBridge intern posts in just 12 months.

The Munster Express received a two-month suspension from the JobBridge scheme following a complaint by an intern.

A total of 35 companies have been disqualified from the JobBridge scheme following investigations by the Department of Social Protection.