Defence Forces to assist jobseekers with new 'buddy system'
Defence Minister Simon Coveney announced details of the first pilot scheme to help 18- to 24-year-olds which will be held in conjunction with the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board.
The Defence Forces are teaming up with the Department of Social Protection to provide the first 30 places on a 10-week course, which will take place at Gormanstown Camp in June.
Mr Coveney said in the White Paper on Defence that the Government believed the military had a role to play in mentoring young adults.
He launched the scheme at McKee Barracks, Dublin, yesterday.
The White Paper said the Defence Forces’ skills, capacities, and facilities, for example in the areas of transport and logistics, could be very useful to those seeking employment.
Mr Coveney said its objective was to help develop a path to economic independence for unemployed participants, who are at a disadvantage in terms of being able to develop due to their socio-economic situation.
He said the scheme was designed to exert a positive influence on participants with the specific aim of equipping them with life skills and other marketable and certifiable skills which will assist them in their capacity to participate fully in society and their ability to enter the workforce or to pursue further education for this purpose.
“On successful completion of the programme, participants should be able to demonstrate an increased sense of self-confidence, self-discipline, self-motivation, and self-worth and increased physical fitness,’’ he said.
