€610m fund to target long-term unemployed in Ireland
The European Commission is to provide €610m in funding to the Irish Government over the next five years to promote employment, skills and social inclusion.
The funding programme will support 167,000 people through up-skilling and re-training.
It will also back 79,000people through social inclusion such as community involvement and training.
Ciara Eustace of the EU office in Dublin says more people will gain new skills as a result of this programme.
"What it really want to do is help people get back to work," she said.
"So therefore it will target the unemployed, especially the long term unemployed, and youth unemployment, through up skilling and re-skilling, in order to access the labour market."
