Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 371: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Science if a person who is qualified as a solicitor and has been made redundant recently can now avail of retraining at Fetac Five Level or higher; the training programmes in place for such persons to retrain to enable them to be employed in a different field in the future. [16307/10]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is open to a person with a professional qualification to apply to attend a PLC programme to gain additional skills in order to enhance his/her prospects of gaining employment. The level of certification on completion of a PLC programme is generally at FETAC Level 5 or Level 6. PLC places are allocated by my Department to providers, mainly VECs. Applications for places on individual courses can be made directly by learners to the relevant schools and colleges which make the decision on the offer of a place.

All higher education programmes can be accessed by unemployed people. Indeed, CAO applications from mature students have increased in recent years and accounted for 14% of all applications in 2009, up from almost 12% in 2008. Last year more than 6,200 mature students accepted an offer of a higher education place through the CAO, an increase of 26% on 2008. It should be noted, however, that an individual who has qualified as a solicitor would not be eligible for a maintenance grant for a PLC or third level course, or for free tuition fees at third level as he/she already holds an award which is higher than level 5/6.