There is good news for anyone unemployed looking to brush up on their IT skills and gain a qualification.

A new IT course has been launched which is funded by government and aims to train anyone who has been unemployed for 12 months or more in a bid to get them back into the workplace.

The course would normally €5000 but is being made available free of charge under the government's momentum programme. 

Dolores James of Ballyfermot IT centre - where the course will be run - says there is already a demand in the workplace for the skills thought under the course: