The Impact trade union has said that the JobBridge scheme has “grown out of control” and is “now poorly designed and regulated”.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Impact organiser Joe O'Connor called for the government's JobBridge scheme to be abolished.
“It needs to be dissolved and the government should introduce more targeted programmes,” he said.
Mr O’Connor said that the scheme had been used to gloss over the cracks in the public service.
“It is inadequately regulated. It is a one size fits all scheme. It has to cover everyone from psychologists to butchers. It is not tailored to specific markets.”
Reports at the weekend claimed that the HSE, the GAA, and Teagasc used the most interns over the last five years.
According to statistics compiled by the Sunday Business Post, the HSE brought on 399 interns, the GAA 249, and Global IT firm Hewlett-Packard 176 interns, through the scheme.
Those on the JobBridge scheme typically work for between 30 and 40 hours per week for an additional € 52.50 on top of unemployment allowances according to Department of Social Protection guidelines.
Originally envisioned to provide around 5,000 work placements, this number has increased to over 46,000 position since 2011.
