Vol. 523 No. 1
176 Mr. Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the help available to people who had been carers for several years and now wish to return to the workforce; if there are any courses available for them to be retrained; and if training will be provided to people while they provide full-time care to others to keep them in touch with the labour market requirements. [19335/00]
Carers who wish to return to the workforce are eligible to undertake a range of mainstream FÁS training programmes. In addition, FÁS runs a range of night courses which provide upskilling opportunities outside of normal teaching hours.
FÁS is also promoting an internet-based training initiative, Net College. A variety of computer skills courses can be undertaken through the Net College at: http//www.fas-netcollege.com. Net College courses would be particularly relevant to full-time carers as they are accessible directly from the home.
