Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Question 28: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to develop initiatives to increase access to further higher level education for the unemployed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9833/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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All full-time higher education programmes covered by the free fees scheme are open to unemployed people. Unemployed people on full-time third level programmes may also be eligible for support under the Department's student grant schemes. The provision of grants is subject to a means test and other eligibility criteria. Further information on how to apply for a student grant is available on the student finance website, www.studentfinance.ie. A competitive call for proposals for €5 million was issued by the HEA at the end of January under Springboard, a new multi-annual higher education labour market fund to enable unemployed people to access innovative part-time higher education opportunities from certificate to postgraduate levels (Levels 6 to 9 on NQF). The closing date for applications from providers for funding was 18 March 2011. It is expected that full details of the part-time programmes to be provided under Springboard will be available by the end of this month. Springboard has been designed to help unemployed people who hold awards at NFQ Level 5 or 6 or equivalent with a previous history of employment in construction, manufacturing or other sectors of the economy in which employment levels are unlikely to recover to pre-recession levels. The fund also targets those with a previous history of employment with higher levels of qualifications who may also require additional upskilling or reskilling to enable them to re-enter employment.