The Department of Social Protection has announced that it is to review the eligibility criteria for the National Internship Scheme.
Currently unemployed people must be on the Live Register for at least three months to be considered eligible for an internship placement.
This precludes those who have recently completed a FÁS course or those who are unemployed but who are not on the Live Register.
In a statement to RTÉ News this afternoon, the Dept said it will review the scheme's eligibility criteria and continues to monitor how the scheme operates as it has only been in place for eight weeks.
There are 5,000 places on the internship scheme, which offers unemployed people work experience plus €50 a week extra to their existing social welfare benefit.
Most recent figures show there are 2,708 intern positions currently available.
There have been 1,156 people selected for positions and 947 of those have been verified as suitable candidates, while 825 people have already started work.
