The deeply divisive JobBridge internship programme will close to new participants on Friday, with a new system guaranteeing a series of reforms set to be implemented from next summer.

THE Indecon survey of JobBridge is something of a swan-song, as Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar had indicated last May that the controversial internship scheme would be scrapped and replaced by one ‘more fit for purpose’.

The National Youth Council of Ireland has called for a €30 million package to tackle the high rate of youth unemployment after EU figures showed almost a fifth of young Irish people are not in education, work or training.

Adams & Butler had positive experiences with JobBridge, and found Enterprise Ireland helpful, but have been hampered by one bit of red tape in particular

I refer to the proposed scrapping of JobBridge.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

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

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 Department of Social Protection has strongly defended the JobBridge scheme amid calls for it to be scrapped.

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”.

It has been revealed by the Irish Examiner that the Department of Social Protection has reversed its decision to ban all firms where it was alleged that interns had been assaulted and bullied.

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.

Question: Welfare reform has been highlighted as a priority issue for them. Can you set out your own parties thinking on the need, if any, for reform of the welfare system and to what end?

One of the country’s largest trade unions has put a series of 11 questions to all of the political groups contesting this year’s election, vowing to publish the answers as soon as possible after the election is called.

The Government hit workers’ private pensions for close to €2.4bn over a five- year period through its much-maligned pension levy, new figures reveal.

Here are the main thins Noel Baker thinks the Government should address in the upcoming Budget

Sinn Féin has claimed it could give back between €600 and €2,000 to the average family if it was in control of the budget purse strings.

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.

As a member of the INTO I was delighted to see our general secretary, Sheila Nunan, quoted in your paper (22/8) describing the JobBridge scheme as ‘exploitative’ and urging young teachers not to be pressured into taking up a JobBridge placement.

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.

Good evening. Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

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

 The ‘back to work’ mantra is used to force people, despite their skills and training, into precarious work, offering the choice between hard labour and destitution, say Tom Boland and Ray Griffin 

The Government has been urged to abandon “short-term ‘emergency’ corrective measures” to address youth unemployment and adopt longer-term ‘preventative’ measures.

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.

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.

In the Irish Examiner (January 15), Arthur Spring, Labour TD for Kerry North and West Limerick, criticised me for mentioning the slow rate of recovery in the jobs market in Kerry, because I highlighted the rise in live-register figures for the last three months of 2014.

There is no sign of a jobs recovery in Kerry with increases in the number of people signing on the Live Register over three consecutive months, according to local Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris.