The Government has been urged to raise the cap on the number of positions available on further education courses after tens of thousands of students failed to secure a place this year.
The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) said the issue must be treated as a "matter of urgency" as more than 90,000 people, a record number, had this year applied for the maximum 31,000 places available on Post leaving Cert (PLC) courses in the State.
Ballyfermot College of Further Education, one of the largest facilities of its type in the State, received some 6,600 applications for 1,600 places, according to figures provided by the TUI.
Drogheda College of Further Education had 3,200 applications for 1,000 places, while 4,500 people sought the 1,250 places offered at St John's Central College in Cork.
The union said that in 2009 there were approximately two applications for each place.
TUI deputy general secretary Annette Dolan said severe restrictions on the sector still exist because of an artificial cap on student numbers introduced at a time when the State had almost full employment.
"It is therefore incredible that the limit has not been raised at all in the recession in which we now find ourselves," she said.
"The Government should and must meet the demand for places in further education colleges by funding more places in PLC colleges so that school leavers and those recently unemployed can up skill and retrain."
Ms Dolan said the majority of applicants that failed to secure a place on a course would generally have gone straight into employment or apprenticeships in the past and were now left with little choice but going on to the live register.
The Union of Students in Ireland said the figures exposed the Government's "gross underinvestment in education" over the past decade.
Youth Work Ireland said the figures were of grave concern and that the problems faced by early school leavers had been exacerbated by the failure of the Government to adopt a youth employment strategy.
