An Garda Síochána has come under fire for posting two advertisements for intern positions on JobBridge website. The roles are for a "Human Rights Assistant" and a "Legal/policing Researcher".

Both positions will last for nine months, and pay €50 per week - in addition to the candidate's existing social welfare payments.

That works out as an extra payment of €1.25 an hour to carry out what sounds like important work. The positions were posted yesterday and appeared on Broadsheet this morning. 

The roles require applicants to have specialised third level qualifications in their respective fields. Under the heading 'Experience' both jobs say, 'No Experience Required'.

The ad suggests that potential candidates should have a "high level of personal responsibility and integrity and the ability to observe confidentiality in respect of the work conducted".

In October, Junior Minister at the Department of Social Protection, Kevin Humphreys told the Dáil that the Government had taken on 330 interns in a range of departments since the scheme started in 2011. He added that he thought that these positions provided "good quality work experience". None of the interns were given full-time positions.

Some 44 companies have been banned from taking part on the JobBridge internship scheme. The Government has, however, refused to name the companies involved. Minister Humphreys said he could not name the offending firms, because the Department “want people to participate in the scheme”.

Over 34,000 people have taken part in JobBridge internships since it was set up.