Have you found yourself out of work and need to develop your skills? Skills Connect has been specifically designed for you.

Skills Connect offers free, online training which will help you reskill and develop the skills that employers are looking for today. Together with Skillnet Networks they offer innovative training and upskilling programmes, each offering practical work placements or projects.

Skills conversion courses can help you develop the skills to explore a career in a sector with greater employment potential. Enhance your job prospects by refreshing your existing skill set and expertise and learn new skills.

Skills Connect Programmes are free for people who are seeking employment. Applicants must meet the Skills Connect eligibility criteria and meet the specific entry criteria for the relevant programme. (see below)

Benefits for Individuals

TRAINING PROGRAMMES

Take advantage of new job opportunities with a range of programmes designed with enterprise to assist you in developing new skills.

STRUCTURED SUPPORT

Career development support that offers new perspectives and approaches to expanding your career choices.

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE

Skills Connect includes practical industry-based placements and projects with employers which offer the opportunity to apply your new skills.

Eligible Individuals who are Welfare Payment Recipients

Unemployed people with an entitlement to a Jobseekers Allowance (JA) or Jobseekers Benefit (JB) payment from the Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection (DEASP) may retain such payments subject to the Back to Education criteria of that Department.

People in receipt of other forms of income support from DEASP may retain such payments subject to the Back to Education criteria of that Department. Other forms of income support include:

• Jobseeker’s Credits only
• Blind Pension
• Disability Allowance
• Farm/Fish Assist
• Illness Benefit
• Invalidity Pension
• One-Parent Family Payment
• Rural Social Scheme
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance
• Adult Dependants (of listed schemes)

COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment

People in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) may participate in training delivered through Skillnet Ireland’s Skills Connect scheme and Employment Activation Programme (EAP). As most training available through these initiatives is of short duration or part-time, recipients may continue to receive the PUP. However, once recipients identify the specific training programme that they wish to undertake, they must check their eligibility to retain the PUP with their Intreo office.

Eligible Individuals who are not Welfare Payment Recipients

Individuals who are not in receipt of a welfare payment from DEASP and whose circumstances are described below are eligible to participate.

• Former sole traders and business owners
• Recent graduates who are unemployed
• Homemakers
• Retirees seeking to return to the workplace
• Individuals who fail to qualify for social welfare payments because of a spouse’s income
• Individuals signing on for credits but in receipt of no social welfare payment
• Individuals who have recently accepted redundancy payments
• Non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals holding immigration Stamp 4

Programme Duration Conditions for Welfare Recipients

Programmes offered by Skillnet Ireland networks may be full or part-time and may be continuous or staggered over time. Programmes typically will incorporate a work placement, the duration of which is included in the overall course duration.

Programmes of 20 or less days’ duration

Programmes of 20 or less days’ duration may be pursued without prior approval from Intreo Offices/DEASP Scheme Areas. Individuals in receipt of a Job-seekers payment or other payment (listed above) should inform their local offices, wherever possible in advance, of their intention to participate in such short programmes.

Programmes Exceeding 20 days’ Duration

Individuals in receipt of a Job-seekers payment or other payment (listed above) must receive prior approval from INTREO Offices/DEASP Scheme Areas to participate on programmes delivered by training networks which exceeds 20 days in duration. For example, Disability Allowance recipients should contact the Disability Allowance Section within DEASP.

Ineligible Unemployed Individuals

Skillnet Ireland, under its current mandate, does not provide training to unemployed people who fall into any of the following categories:

1. Current participants on Jobs Initiative (JI) Schemes
2. Non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals holding immigration Stamp 1, Stamp 2 or Stamp 3
3. Full-time students engaged in second or third-level education.

Important Additional Information for Unemployed Individuals

Please note that:

• Once eligibility has been established, it is the responsibility of the Skillnet Learning Network to decide who participates in training based on the network’s programme selection criteria
• Skillnet Learning Network Managers may seek information about previous work history, education and career aspirations to ensure programmes that candidates are interested in completing are relevant
• If training occurs on the same day as a signing day, it is the responsibility of the learner to inform the INTREO Office and arrange an alternative signing day prior to commencing training
• All trainees are required to complete relevant programme documentation including a Participant Profile Form and a Training Evaluation Form
• After training is complete, learners may be contacted by the Skillnet Learning Networks or a representative of Skillnet Ireland for the purposes of evaluating programmes and determining how learners have progressed since the completion of training
• Learners must be resident in the Republic of Ireland

NEXT STEPS

STEP 1: DISCOVER

Visit the Skillnet Network websites to view all upcoming Skills Connect programmes.

STEP 2: APPLY

Apply directly to the relevant Skillnet Network for the programme that you are interested in.

STEP 3: JOIN

Successful applicants join the Skills Connect online programme and associated virtual work placement.

CLICK HERE; CHECK OUT THIS LINK

OFFICIAL LAUNCH INFORMATION;

Minister Simon Harris launched “Skills Connect” to support workers who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD, launched Skillnet, Ireland’s new initiative, Skills Connect, aimed at helping workers severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to reskill quickly, secure new roles within their sector, or undertake innovative conversion courses to access job opportunities in new sectors.

Skills Connect is delivered in close partnership with employers. The initiative offers individuals the opportunity to develop new skills, build confidence and access valuable on-the-job training. Over 20 Skillnet Networks will deliver Skills Connect programmes in sectors where there is high employment potential and a demand for talent, including: Technology, Agri-food, Medtech, Cyber Security, Logistics, Energy Efficiency and Retrofitting, Customer Experience (CX), Law and Digital Marketing.

Speaking at the launch of the initiative Minister Harris said: “Since the onset of this pandemic the Government has worked hard to minimise the economic impact on those who have lost their job or have been laid off.

At the same time, we must and are investing in people and provide fresh opportunities to those whose careers and livelihoods have been worst impacted.

The initiative will focus on supporting people from those sectors most badly affected by COVID-19 including hospitality, tourism, and retail and offer them the opportunity to reskill and retrain in sectors with employment potential including cyber security, software programming, digital marketing and customer service. We expect to help 2,000 people by the end of the year with many more in 2021.

“We must do everything possible to get businesses back on their feet and get people back to work quickly. I would really encourage anyone who can to log onto www.skillnetireland.ieto find out more. This is a time of great challenge for people but this initiative will help so many people and so many companies find their way in this Covid world.”

Under the Skills Connect initiative employers will provide work placements, mentoring and a range of other career development supports.

Paul Healy, Chief Executive of Skillnet Ireland, said: “Since the onset of the pandemic we have intensified the collaboration with our industry partners, providing speedy and high impact solutions that are making a real difference on the ground. 

The Skillnet Ireland model is enterprise-led and highly adaptable to the ever-changing needs of businesses. Skills Connect is a practical employer-driven initiative that connects affected workers to new opportunities in the workplace, by building on their existing skills and experience.

Skills Connect will also contribute to the other challenges facing businesses and our workforce, including Brexit, accelerated digitalisation and building Ireland’s green economy. We look forward to playing our full part in supporting the economic recovery.”

Skillnet Ireland will leverage its deep industry roots across the country to help the workers find opportunities in new and emerging sectors. Over 300 companies from an array of industries have already committed to supporting the Skills Connect initiative through the provision of work placements, mentoring and other supports.

Tom Clarke, Site Director, West Pharmaceutical Services Inc, said: “We are delighted to be in a position to work in partnership with Skillnet Ireland to support workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

West Pharmaceuticals is a rapidly expanding business providing device design, development, and manufacturing services for pharmaceutical and med-tech customers. We need talented and skilled team members to join our team in Ireland. We look forward to reskilling and upskilling those looking to re-enter the workforce and supporting them in the next step in their career.”

Visit www.skillsconnect.ie to learn more.