Hundreds of places available in Springboard courses for jobseekers across the North East – McEntee

Fine Gael Meath East TD, Helen McEntee, has today (Monday) welcomed the announcement from the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn TD, that 6,100 new free higher education places are being made available to jobseekers as part of this year’s round of the Springboard programme.

Deputy McEntee added that hundreds of places are being made available in third level colleges in Dublin, Maynooth and Dundalk, which will be of benefit to jobseekers across the North East.

“This is the fourth year of Springboard, which helps jobseekers to boost their skills so they can access employment in growing enterprise sectors, which are leading our economic recovery. Hundreds of places are available in colleges across Dublin, including DIT, Dublin Business School, IBAT College and the National College of Ireland. More than 70 places are available in Dundalk IT and more than 100 places will be filled in NUI Maynooth.

“The courses are focussed on a wide range of growing sectors, including ICT, digital marketing, financial services, international marketing, multimedia and cloud computing. The Government recognises the need for our graduates and jobseekers to have the skills necessary for our new economy, which is based on enterprise and innovation, rather than the old economy which was overly reliant on construction and banking. That’s why Springboard specifically targets areas where there are job opportunities and growth.

“Most courses are part-time, they are all free, and they generally allow participants to maintain their social welfare payments while they are completing the course. A number of courses are full-time one year ICT skills conversion courses; and successful applicants for these courses who are in receipt of a jobseekers payment can apply for the Back to Education Allowance.

“This year, work placements are being offered on almost every Springboard course because such placements are a really important way of improving employment prospects. The system is also being made more flexible, as you will no longer have to be long-term unemployed to be eligible.

“I would encourage jobseekers in Meath looking to upskill, to check out the range of courses available at www.springboardcourses.ie.”