SOLAS welcomes announcement by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD and Minister of State for Skills and Further Education Niall Collins TD of a series of new measures as part of Budget 2021.

The range of measures include a €50 million fund to provide financial assistance for full-time students, a reskilling and retraining package and an extension of the Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme.

Included are a number of measures relating to Further Education and Training.

• 10,000 upskilling and reskilling opportunities in FET for people affected by the pandemic. This investment builds on the commitment made in the July Stimulus under Skills to Compete.

• A dedicated Mitigating Educational Disadvantage Fund of €8 million which will be used to support community education & to engage with disadvantaged learners.

• The extension of the Apprenticeship Employer Incentivisation Scheme in 2021.

• The roll out of a new retrofitting training scheme and a new climate action upskilling scheme to support a green recovery.

A copy of the press release from the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is available here