Public sector told to lead by example in employing members of Traveller community
Martin Ward from the Galway Traveller Movement said the success of the BBR initiative had “busted the myth that Travellers don’t want to work”.
The public sector must lead by example and commit to recruiting members of the Travelling community to bridge the “significant employment gap” and break down existing barriers, an Oireachtas committee heard today.
The joint committee on key issues affecting the Traveller community heard that the unemployment rate remains high at around 80% despite several reports and pilot initiatives over the past two decades.
Representatives of Ibec, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), and the Travellers in Prison Initiative (TPI) called for positive action measures and targets for the employment of Travellers to end decades of prejudice and discrimination.
TPI programme co-ordinator Anne Costello said the public sector should be representative of the population and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform should lead the way by introducing targets for the recruitment of Travellers and internships across all government departments and public bodies.
The Department of Justice is offering four to five internship placements to Travellers, as well as some other public agencies, but these placements need to be “mainstreamed” and offer the potential of a job at the end, Ms Costello said.
She said social enterprises, such as the Bounce Back Recycling (BBR) initiative in Galway, have a role to play and could be scaled up and replicated around the country but that the public sector must lead by example.
“The public sector has to show leadership here. They are the ones who are the biggest employers. They have the resources to support the employment of Travellers,” she said.
Martin Ward from the Galway Traveller Movement said the success of the BBR initiative had “busted the myth that Travellers don’t want to work” and that action, rather than further reports, is needed.
“We feel we have been overanalysed as a community with all of the reports that have been done and we’re losing so much time. Every time a report comes out it’s three to five years,” Mr Ward said.
“The stats haven’t changed. This is not the community saying it, it’s report after report, and I think it’s time to get on with it."
Dr Kara McGann, head of social policy at Ibec, said Travellers had often been omitted from government activation or employment strategies and that a public awareness campaign is needed to tackle anti-Traveller racism.
ICTU equality and social policy officer David Joyce said the recognition of Traveller ethnicity alone would not deal with the 80% unemployment rate and that severe educational disadvantage, inequality, and discrimination in the workplace must also be addressed.
The new Pathways to Work employment policy must include targeting for members of the Traveller community and a national Traveller employment action plan is also needed, the committee heard.
