Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 September 2011
183 Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of Springboard places out of the 5,900 provided as part of the recent jobs initiative that remain vacant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25007/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraApplications for the 5,900 Springboard places opened on 25 May 2011 through the online applications facility on the Bluebrick.ie web portal. It is open to applicants to submit multiple applications and to date 16,040 applications have been received from 6,736 people. 3,792 applicants have been accepted and are enrolled on courses and 2,378 applications are currently being processed.
As applications are still being submitted and processed, the overall position in relation to uptake will not be known for another few weeks. The majority of Springboard programmes will have commenced by mid October.
184 Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of back to education places out of the 3,000 provided as part of the recent jobs initiative that remain vacant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25008/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe additional 3,000 BTEI places provided as part of the recent Jobs Initiative were allocated to the VECs in June, 2011. These places are designed to provide flexible short term programmes, with priority given to people who are unemployed and who left school prior to completing their Leaving Certificate.
VECs are currently in the process of recruiting participants and initiating programmes for the Jobs Initiative. Data on the number of participants availing of these places will be submitted by VECs as part of end of year reports. The analysis of this data will not be available until early 2012.
