Government committed to education and training - Dooley

Tullamore Councillor Sineád Dooley has said this week that it is appropriate in the current climate that the Government continues its commitment to education and training and she welcomes the recent announcement by Education Minister Batt O"Keeffe TD, that his Department will provide the extra 1,500 Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) places from September as part of the Government"s response to the education and training needs of workers who face unemployment or who"ve lost their jobs. The extra allocation means that the total number of PLC places on offer for the 2009/2010 academic year will be 31,688. Announcing the new places, Minister O"Keeffe said: 'In response to the growing education and training needs in the economy, I"ve redeployed funding this year to create an extra 1,500 PLC places which will cost about €12 million in a full year.' Councillor Dooley said: 'These measures are a clear indication of the Government"s commitment to investing in those who are out of work so that they can return to employment as soon as possible. The PLC programme gives students with specific vocational skills the help to improve their prospects of getting secure full-time jobs or to progress to other studies. I expect a very strong demand for these extra PLC places as learners recognise the importance of up-skilling and retraining for a changed labour market and I encourage people to avail of this opportunity.'