Tánaiste Joan Burton has hit back at critics of the JobBridge scheme.

She said Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams "on his day off from his trampoline" had put down parliamentary question asking for the national internship scheme to be extended.

“I hear people in the Dáil talking about JobBridge and I sometimes wonder have some of them have ever worked in a job, other than politics, of course,” she said.

Ms Burton said there was no way the Government could compel an employer to hire an employee and that all placements would not result in permanent jobs.

“In the real world that we live in that’s not possible. So there’s no compulsion.”

However, she said there was a structured programme of interviewing people and calling them back in.

“The really positive thing is that so many people want to be involved,” she said.

“I recall Gerry Adams having parliamentary questions down, on his day off from his trampoline, actually looking for the scheme to be extended.”

Her comments come after a report by the National Youth Council of Ireland scheme requires significant reform if it is to provide participants with a worthwhile experience that will help them secure employment.

Ms Burton said she welcomed all studies carried out on the scheme.

She was speaking to reporters at Government Buildings, after welcoming the latest employment figures.