Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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124. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps being taken by his Department to improve access to training and upskilling opportunities for jobseekers, particularly those who have been long-term unemployed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61550/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Jobseekers engaging with Intreo Employment Services can avail of a number of avenues into training and upskilling. My Department works closely with the Department of Further and Higher Education and SOLAS to address barriers in, and increase uptake of further education and training. In Pathways To Work 2021-2025, the national employment services strategy, the Government committed to providing up to 50,000 Further Education and Training (FET) placements for long-term unemployed jobseekers.

From the strategy’s launch to June 2025 there have been 173,185 Long-Term Unemployed learner commencements of FET courses, of which 71,885 were unique learners. In that same period 27,213 people have been referred from Intreo to take up FET courses.

My Department supports jobseekers in further and higher education through the Back to Education Allowance, the Part Time Education Option (PTEO) and the Education Training and Development (EDT) option to raise educational and skill levels to help participants access the labour market.

The Part Time Education Option enables people in receipt of a jobseeker payment to attend part-time day/evening courses of education or training with the approval of their Employment Personal Advisor. They must continue to satisfy the conditions of being available and genuinely seeking full time work.

The EDT option allows those in receipt of a jobseeker payment, with the approval of their Employment Personal Advisor, to continue receiving their payment while attending certain short education, training or development courses. The normal eligibility conditions for their payment continue to apply.

The Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) provides income support to jobseekers who wish to enter a full-time FET course to improve their skills and assist them in finding quality employment.

The Training Support Grant (TSG) is available to jobseekers to fund short-term training and certification up to €1,000 per annum. The Grant allows Employment Personal Advisors/Job Coaches to identify and address skills and certification gaps among jobseekers that prevent them from taking up an offer of employment. Jobseekers on employment schemes such as Community Employment and Back to Work Enterprise Allowance are also eligible for Springboard+ courses.