Looking to retrain or upskill – You might be entitled to funding.

It would seem that in the current climate many people are looking to retrain or upskill, and depending on your circumstances, you may be entitled to funding.

We have had lots of calls to the Academy office over the last few months  from persons wondering if they could access funding to do any of our courses. So I decided to do some research and contact the various state agencies to get some information. I thought it would be a reasonably simple peace of research, but there doesn’t seem to be a cohesive policy on the issuing of training/education funds, although I do hope the following information will be of some help.

Good news

The good news is that there is funding available, but it very much depends on individual circumstances. If you are unemployed you should sign on at your local dole office and register with fas at your local FAS office in order to try and access funding. It would seem that two categories giving preference for funding are persons unemployed, or in receipt of some form of social welfare benefit.  So if you are looking to retrain, up skill or return to education, two of the main offices that you can contact are

Local employment services, known as LES offices ( also distinguished by the “Obair” logo). Theses offices offer a wide range of services from career planning to job searching and also have a role in accessing funding. It would also seem that they can advise you if you are entitled to funding and  how and where to get it. I would think this would be a very good starting point and a quick phone call or visit might save you a lot of work. (contact details at bottom of article)

Local social welfare offices , which have a ‘jobs facilitator’. Social welfare also have a role to play in issuing funding for training/education which is mainly via the local welfare offices and the jobs facilitator. You can be referred by social welfare or FAS to the jobs facilitator or you can contact them directly and make an appointment. (contact details at the end of this article)

The role of FAS

FAS is the national training authority and thus has a role in providing training for its clients. They also play a  role in assisting with career planning via their guidance officers in local offices. The main priority of FAS at local level would be to help you identify a course or career which they can provide through their own training programmes. However in some cases, they may provide you with funding or help you access funding, for courses which they do not provide, or if there is a long waiting list for a course which they provide. (see bottom of article for contact details)

Important

Irrespective of which agency you choose to contact, it is important that you have some sort of a ‘career plan’ that incorporates the course which you are looking  for funding for. The person who is issuing, or making recommendations for the funds to be issued, will need to know that the course will  enhance your career or employment prospects, or lead to self employment, and may also form part of a  progressive education pathway.

Contacts

www.localemploymentservices.ie

When you enter the home page look to the left hand menu on click on ‘les offices’ for list of contacts.

www.welfare.ie

When you enter the home page look at the menu at the top of the page and click on ‘contact us’, this brings you to a list of services , the first one is ’social welfare local and branch offices’, click on this for list of contacts

www.fas.ie

When you enter the FAS home page click on ‘job seeker’ , when you enter job seeker section read down through the text and click on ‘fas office’ for list of local offices.

I do hope this information will be of help to you  and good luck with your efforts.

Talk soon

D O K