The possession of credits from the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs is of no relevance in seeking access of FÁS programmes. Any person who is unemployed and seeking work may register with the FÁS placement services through any of their 57 full-time and 80 part-time employment services offices nationwide. Once registered, a person is eligible to participate in a wide range of mainline training programmes run by FÁS, the training and employment authority, which are open to all persons who are unemployed and seeking employment, though priority is given to those on the live register.
Through the FÁS placement services, people seeking to return to the workforce can be matched with job vacancies notified to FÁS by employers. These vacancy notices are displayed on notice boards in each FÁS employment services office.
Persons may also avail of career guidance information and advice. A database providing information on approximately 300 careers and an interactive computer guidance system is available to all FÁS clients to assist them in making an appropriate career choice.
For those wishing to become self-employed, FÁS can provide assistance through its enterprise training programme or through its co-operative development unit. The enterprise training programme, which consists mainly of the business appraisal training programme, provides a full range of support services to persons who wish to set up new businesses. It assists such persons in assessing the development needs of a project and in preparing a business plan. The programme, which has a duration of between ten and 25 weeks, provides training in areas of business such as, inter alia, market research-planning, selling techniques, business plans, insurance-legal aspects of business, financial research-planning, book-keeping/taxation and new technology.