Hi amg,
I will reply to you as no-one else has. There is a new scheme called the Work Placement Programme where you are entitled to work unpaid but still receiving your benefits in order to gain work experience. Google the term and read about it on the FAS website. The whole thing works through the FAS office, the employer and interested participants register at the FAS office. If I was you I would go down and ask them if any employers in the area you are interested have registered, and maybe register yourself stating the area you would like to work in. I would imagine you could approach an employer yourself, tell them about the scheme and your interest in it and ask them to register. Otherwise I suppose you could just get on and do it and say nothing to social welfare and hope you get away with it.