The 51,000 extra places will be offered to jobseekers as short courses, night courses and online courses.

The short course initiative will provide appropriate training for people with high levels of employability, recently made redundant, to upskill and refocus them for re-entry into the labour market.

Jobseekers will have been employed in a specific occupational role which is in less demand in the current downturn.

Under the night course initiative, unemployed people who have completed a career guidance interview with their local FAS Employment Services office may be eligible to access the FAS night training programme - which operates at all of the FAS Training Centre locations - under a new fee waiver policy.

The FAS online courses initiative will provide a range of management, ICT and technical training courses for unemployed and recently redundant people who can successfully participate in training delivered in a self-directed eLearning environment.

Learners will be assisted to access appropriate and industry-recognised certification.

John Walshe