John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 80: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that participation in a FÁS course has the effect of making persons ineligible to apply for the new initiative, Springboard; his views on whether this penalises persons who have been long-term unemployed and are making every effort to re-enter the labour force, including retraining and upskilling, and if he will review the criteria of this scheme to allow applications to be decided on a case by case basis. [16698/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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It is not the case that people who have participated in FÁS training programmes are precluded from applying for a Springboard programme. To be eligible for a place on a Springboard course applicants must have been unemployed for a minimum of 6 months when the course starts. At the time of starting a Springboard course an applicant also must be in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit or One Parent Family Payment or be signing for contribution credits and be available and actively seeking employment. In calculating the qualifying period of 6 months unemployed, time in receipt of a FÁS training allowance will be taken into account.