Teacher education and matching qualifications to the jobs market will be among the educational priorities of Ireland’s EU presidency.

Ireland won a small victory in its fight to retain as much as possible of it’s €1.6 billion a year from the EU’s common agriculture fund as negotiations on the Union’s seven-year €1 trillion budget got underway.

Justice and Equality Minister Alan Shatter has welcomed an announcement that a government-supported programme has helped hundreds of immigrants here to get jobs.

Additional staff have had to be brought in as fewer than 700 students have been paid their grants so far by the new agency which Education Minster Ruairi Quinn had said would speed up the application process.

Cork’s voluntary and statutory emergency services are planning a massive recruitment exhibition in the city.

WHAT is the difference between Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin and the ousted tánaiste Mary Coughlan?

THE Aviva job losses are a “stark reminder” of the need to make Ireland more competitive and reduce the cost base, the Taoiseach said.

EXTRA EU aid totalling €98 million could be unlocked for Ireland by a proposal to increase the Brussels funding contribution to projects in areas such as infrastructure and rural development.

European Employment Commissioner Lázló Andor has said that the Government's jobs initiative

MILLIONS of euro in EU grants to help unemployed people get back to work are being lost because Fás has failed to update its book- keeping from paper to a modern computer system.

WARNINGS about waste and mismanagement of a €126 million Fás “slush fund” were ignored by the Department of Enterprise as far back as 2006.

JOBS agency Fás has vowed to continue efforts to secure EU funding despite the agency being “battered” with financial scandals and allegations.

A MASSIVE €4.5 million was paid out to SIPTU and ICTU from the misspent Fás training package which has caused the European Commission to withhold €57m in social funding.

THE chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has called on the Government to explain why it has not applied for any of the €211 million in European funding available to the State training agency, Fás.

The European Commission is to put a decade of spending at Ireland's State training agency under the spotlight.

A MULTI-MILLION euro income stream the country receives from Europe for social projects is in danger because of questions raised about the possible misuse of grants given to Fás.

IRISH workers are becoming much more flexible in the face of increasing unemployment.

The employment situation in Ireland has been particularly badly affected by the current economic crisis, a new EU survey published today reveals.

A £21m (€24m) package to support businesses and apprentice tradesmen struggling in the economic downturn was announced by the Stormont Executive today.

Once a peninsula of green fields and country estates, Mahon in Cork has in recent decades developed into a sprawling suburb of mixed residential housing, a rapid transformation which along with other social factors resulted in it becoming an area of high unemployment.

THE EU will release funds early for retraining and upskilling Irish people unemployed as a result of the economic crisis, a delegation of training and employment bodies has been told.

I WOULD like to clarify a number of issues that Micheál Ó Fearghail raised (Letters, September 16) where he criticised me for holding public meetings in my own constituency about the future direction of the EU.

EMPLOYMENT, enterprise and influence have been set out as the main priorities in a Government initiative to eliminate gender inequality.

THE Green party’s debate last week about whether or not to support the Lisbon Treaty demonstrated the tough task ahead for those wishing to see the referendum passed.

MINISTER for innovation policy Micheal Ahern yesterday launched a €375m European Social Fund’s Human Investment Programme for Ireland.

The European Commission has announced that Ireland will receive €375m from the European Social Fund (ESF) to upskill workers and create new employment in disadvantaged communities.

The European Social Fund has allocated new funding for disadvantaged areas in Ireland.

The importance of academic qualifications for job hunters was challenged today in a new report.

There are large numbers of basking sharks and some dolphins off the Cornwall coast but no fearsome great white sharks, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) in the UK said today.

A NEW training programme is designed to help food and drink exporters cope with challenges such as increasing competition at home and overseas, more and more food regulations, and changes in customer trends and habits.

A new e-learning food safety course for Irish companies working in the food industry was launched today.

Food industry workers can complete a two-and-a-half hour crash course on food safety and hygiene via a new e-learning initiative, it emerged today.

THE Government is set to lose over €15.5m in EU funding due to irregularities in the way claims for grants under the European Social Fund (ESF) were processed.

ACCIDENTS and work related illnesses caused by poor health and safety are costing Irish businesses a minimum of €300m annually.

The chief executive of the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland today said accidents and work-related illnesses through poor implementation of health and safety practices are costing Irish businesses at least €300m per annum.

THE European Commission is demanding the Tánaiste’s department give back more than €20 million in EU grants - despite agreeing that the money was spent correctly.