Minister announces free postgrad places for unemployed

The Minister for Education has announced details of 1,000 postgraduate third-level places for unemployed workers in September.

The new places will be in a wide range of courses in Ireland's seven universities and 13 institutes of technology.

They will be available to graduates who have lost jobs as a result of the recession.

Last week, Minister Batt O'Keeffe also announced 1,500 part-time undergraduate college places for unemployed people.

Students will be entitled to retain their social welfare payments while on those courses and the new postgraduate courses announced this morning.

The initiatives are part of the Government's efforts to retrain or upskill people who have been made redundant due to the economic downturn.