FIANNA FAIL’S Social Protection Spokesperson, Willie O’Dea TD has welcomed the announcement by Minister Leo Varadkar that no new applications will be accepted onto the Government’s Job Bridge scheme from today, Friday October 28.
“This is a welcome decision by the Minister. It has been clear for some time that the scheme wasn’t working the way it was intended to, and that some unforeseen, negative consequences happened.” O’Dea added.
“What must happen now is that the Minister in framing a new internship scheme ensures that the mistakes of Job Bridge are not replicated, and that any learnings gained over the past five years are used in the development of a new scheme. While I welcome the announcement today by Minister Varadkar, I am very disappointed that he announced this decision at a public event rather than in Dáil Éireann. The National Parliament should not play second fiddle to Minister Varadkar’s leadership ambitions,” concluded O’Dea.
