More than 3 out of 5 people taking part in the internship scheme from the coalition are going on to paid employment.

A report by Indecon Economic Consultants has found that more than half (52%) of interns ended up in paid employment, and this rose to 61% for interns who had completed the scheme over the previous five months.

"This independent evaluation found that that in the region of 60% of JobBridge interns progress into paid employment within a 5 – 6 month period. This is about twice the European norm for such schemes" said An Taoiseach at the launch of the report.

Enda Kenny added that "we need to do more to encourage employers to hire people who are currently on welfare. To this end we will launch the JobsPlus scheme in July, but this is only a start".

But the report says that some changes to the scheme are needed. These include:

• Greater participation in the scheme by non-graduates
• Host organisations should be allowed to pay interns in certain circumstances
• Adjusting the duration of internships should be considered
• Greater supports for participants to reduce non-completion and help those dissatisfied with placements.

Shane Ashmore is now a full-time employee at Linkedin HQ in Dublin after starting there as an intern.

But the Indecon survey found some intern participants found problems with the scheme and make recommendations for possible changes, including:

"Make the host organisations pay the interns....it mollycoddles them"

"My experience was neither helpful nor unhelpful, but I felt taken advantage of at times....it is hard to motivate oneself after paying €10,000 for a masters degree"

"I strongly believe the JobBridge scheme creates job displacement. It is basically free labour for Companies that can well afford to pay the minimum wage".