Job Initiative scheme to remain open until all participants reach retirement age

The scheme is paid at a weekly rate of €519, for which the individual’s employer is reimbursed by the State, with each contract renewing annually until retirement age.

An €11m-a-year jobseeker's scheme set up in 1996 still has 374 participants, despite not having taken on any new applicants in the last 20 years, it has emerged.

A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) into the Job Initiative scheme found that the scheme, first set up by the Department of Enterprise, will continue in its current guise until all participants have reached mandatory retirement age in 2046 — assuming it is left as it is.