Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 622: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide details of the supports available for persons in Cork City and county who have lost their job in recent times and who are seeking to re-enter the workforce. [31578/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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There is a number of supports for persons in Cork City and County who have lost their jobs, the majority of which are provided through education programmes and FÁS interventions aimed at ensuring that these people who are unemployed are better equipped to re-enter the workforce.

The FÁS South West Region (Cork and Kerry) is providing key early supports to unemployed people that are aimed at assisting them to enhance their skills and better enable them to secure employment in these difficult times.

FÁS Employment Services Cork provides client services and supports, including jobsearch, through its Employment Services Offices located in Cork City (x3), Mallow and Bantry. FÁS Employment Services also provides fortnightly Clinics in all major towns in County Cork. All clients registering with FÁS have the opportunity to access to FÁS Jobs Ireland for CV posting and for reviewing and follow up of current job vacancies, locally, regionally and nationally.

FÁS provides a wide range of training courses across Cork County through its Training Services Division. Within the Training Centre in Bishopstown and its satellite locations, including Carrigaline, Sunbeam and Farranferris, over 488 programmes have been scheduled for 2010. These include daytime short courses, long courses, traineeships, evening/ night and Saturday courses. Of this number 251 are complete, 48 are currently ongoing, and 188 are yet to run.

FÁS operates a bus service runs from many county locations including Youghal, Mitchelstown, Mallow and West Cork, stopping at the major towns and villages en route to ensure ease of access for those living in the county to programmes running in our city locations.

Over 66 training programmes are currently scheduled in 2010 for locations across Cork County including - Mallow, Mitchelstown, Fermoy, Bantry, Bandon, Carrigaline, Youghal, Carrigtwohill. Of the programmes scheduled 19 are complete, 18 are ongoing and 29 are yet to run.

Clients can also avail of the FÁS Technical Employment Support Scheme Grant to assist them in availing of training courses, not directly provided by FÁS. This support is consistently available to support Mallow/North Cork clients. Typical courses funded through TESG include HGV/Rigid Driving, Fork Lift Driving and Energy Related Skills Training.

Through its Community Services Division, FÁS provides funding for over 2,000 Community Employment places in Cork City & County. Funding is also provided for four Community Training Centres in Cork City, which provide training and education for educationally disadvantaged early school leavers.

In relation to the education supports available for the unemployed, the City of Cork VEC and the County Cork VEC provide a range of programmes and supports that are open to unemployed people who are seeking to upskill to better equip them for re-entry to the workforce. Among the full time programmes available are:

1. Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) – 5,350 places are available on the PLC programme across City and County Cork. The PLC offers a programme of integrated general education, vocational training and work experience in schools and colleges.

2. Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) – 550 places are available on the VTOS programme across City and County Cork. This scheme gives second chance education and training for unemployed adults aged 21 and over in receipt of social welfare payments.

3. Youthreach – just over 400 places are available on the Youthreach programme across City and County Cork. This programme offers a two-year programme of integrated education, training and work experience for 15 to 20 year-olds who are not in the labour market and left school without formal education qualifications.

Additionally the Back to Education Initiative (BTEI) offers part time learning options for the unemployed. In 2009 3,167 learners accessed the BTEI programme across City and County Cork. A similar provision is available for 2010.

Adult Literacy and Community Education programmes are also available to unemployed people.

The VECs also provide support services to learners enrolling in their programmes such as the Adult Educational Guidance Initiative which provides a quality educational guidance service for adults. Childcare support is also available to participants in the Vocational Opportunities Scheme (VTOS), BTEI and Youthreach programmes.

All higher education programmes are open to unemployed people. Applications from mature students accounted for 14% of all CAO applications in 2009, up from almost 12% in 2008. In addition, almost 1,800 unemployed people were supported to embark on part-time higher education courses that support the goals of the 'Smart Economy' from September 2009. 135 of the places on this scheme were allocated to higher education institutions in Cork.