Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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308. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria for entry requirements to access Springboard+ courses; if there are courses specifically aimed at persons that are underemployed; the courses that are available for lifelong learning programmes; and the details of each specific course targeting skills shortages in sectors. [45721/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Springboard+ which incorporates the ICT skills conversion programme is a specific initiative which provides free part-time and full-time courses aimed at addressing the current skills needs of employers and supporting jobseekers to return to employment.

To be eligible for a place on a Springboard+ course a person must be one of the following:

- Unemployed, actively seeking employment, and be in receipt of one of the qualifying Social Protection allowances (as listed on www.springboardcourses.ie), or

- Signing for credits, or

- Previously self-employed, or

- A Homemaker – a person that has been out of the work environment for at least one year due to childcare or other caring obligations and has a previous history of  employment but may require upskilling, reskilling or cross-skilling to transition back to the workforce, or

- In employment, including those in self-employment who wish to upskill, reskill or cross-skill in Biopharma/Med Tech or ICT sectors and  those in employment, or self-employment in the ICT sector who wish to upskill from  a level 7 to a level 8 qualification.

A key change implemented as part of the process for 2017 was to expand the eligibility to those already in employment. This includes the ‘underemployed’. A person who may feel underemployed relative to their education qualifications / career experience can upskill or reskill in the ICT sector or the advanced manufacturing sector through Springboard+. Given that ICT and Manufacturing represent circa 70% of all places of the 2017 Springboard+ offering there are substantial opportunities for the underemployed to update their skills via Springboard+. 

There are 208 free higher education courses as part of Springboard+ 2017. All of these course have been approved on the basis that they specifically meet an identified skills need in the labour market. As a result the courses cover key growth sectors of the economy such as ICT, financial services, advanced manufacturing, hospitality and entrepreneurship.

Full details on specific Springboard+ courses are available on the Springboard+ website at www.springboardcourses.ie.