Note from ESU Consultation Day Workshop

Note from ESU Consultation Day Workshop

Feedback on the Equality Studies Unit

Report of Consultation Day with Groups

CrokePark, Dublin

April 2005

Prepared by WRC Social and Economic Consultants

Supported by

Equality Studies Unit

Measure 33A of the Employment and Human Resources Development and Operational Programme

Contents

Section

1.Introduction 1

2.Overview of the Consultation 2

3 Summary of the Proceedings of the Consultation 4

4.Reports from Workshops7

4.1 Report of the Workshop on Members of the Traveller cCommunity7 4.2 Report of the Workshop on Older People 9 4.3 Report of the Workshop on Members of Minority Ethnic Groups 11

4.4 Report of the Workshop on People with Disabilities 13

List of Appendices

Annex 1 List of Participants16

Annex 2 Overview of the Work of the Equality Studies Unit17

Annex 3 Understanding, Promoting and Supporting Equality

and Diversity in Labour Market Programmes20

Annex 4 List of Publications Available from the Equality Studies Unit39

Funded by the Irish Government and part-financed by the European Social Fund under the National Development Plan, 2000-2006

Your Plan – Your Future

The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Equality Authority.

© The Equality Authority, 2006

Consultation Report1

1Introduction

This report is a record of the proceedings of a consultation held by the Equality Authority with representatives of groups and organisations working with people covered by the Wider Equal Opportunities Principle (WEOP). The four groups of people covered by the WEOP are older people (i.e., people aged 50 years and over), people with disabilities, members of the Traveller cCommunity, and members of minority ethnic groups, especially refugees. The WEOP is one of five horizontal principles that apply to the education, training and employment programmes that comprise the Employment and Human Resources Development Operational Programme 2000-2006 (the EHRDOP, for short). The other four horizontal principles are rural development, the environment, equal opportunities (gender) and social inclusion. The purpose of WEOP is to ensure that the groups of people covered by it are accommodated in the education, training and employment programmes comprising the EHRDOP. Consequently, the WEOP is concerned with understanding, monitoring and supporting the participation of the four groups of people in the programmes comprising the EHRDOP.

Under the terms of the EHRDOP the Equality Authority is responsible for ensuring that the programmes comprising the EHRDOP engage with the WEOP in terms of their design, implementation and monitoring. In pursuing this responsibility the Equality Authority, through the Equality Studies Unit (ESU), is mandated to examine labour market inequalities and their implications for labour market policy. Its focus is on exclusion and discrimination in the labour market as covered by equality legislation and for particular groups covered by the WEOP. Through its work programme it is researching the labour market participation of the groups covered by the WEOP and assessing their participation in the programmes comprising the EHRDOP. Through this work, the ESU is identifying and advising on data deficits, improving understanding of the labour market needs of people in the four groups covered by the WEOP and building capacity to respond to these needs. A number of reports concerning the labour market situation of people from the four groups covered by the WEOP have been published (see Annex 4 for full listing) and many of these are available on the Equality Authority’s website: This report is a further element of the work programme of the ESU.

2Overview of the Consultation

The aim of the consultation was to engage with groups working with / representing people covered by the Wider Equal Opportunities Principle regarding the work of the Equality Studies Unit. In addition, to the specific objectives of the consultation (see Box 1) it also sought to provide a forum in which participants could voice their views regarding:

  • the relevance and value of the work undertaken to date in terms of addressing their concerns; and,

the issues and priorities that could be addressed within the ambit of the work plans of the ESU.

Box 1: Objectives of the Consultation

  • to present the findings and lessons of the work undertaken by of the ESU to date and to obtain feedback regarding these;
  • to obtain the views and concerns of participating organisations concerning the work of the ESU and possible future work; and,
  • to identify relevant issues and developments related to the participation of groups of people covered by the WEOP in the measures comprising the EHRDOP (particularly the 10 measures to which the WEOP is being applied).

An important aspect of the rationale for the consultation was to provide a sounding board for the Equality Authority regarding the issues facing the four groups of people covered by the WEOP in terms of their access to labour market programmes, specifically those programmes comprising the EHRDOP. In that regard, the consultation - particularly in the workshop sessions - sought to elicit the experiences and views of participants regarding what they considered were the main barriers to participation in labour market programmes faced by the people they represent / work with and, also, their views regarding what was needed to address the barriers they identified. The reports of the four workshops presented in Section 4 summarise the issues raised by participants.

Finally, the groups represented at the consultation are one of the key target audiences for the work of the ESU. In that regard, the consultation sought to bring the work of the ESU to their attention and provide the opportunity to obtaining feedback regarding the work undertaken to date.

Box 2: Agenda for the Consultation Day

9.30 - 10.00Registration

10.00 - 10.15Chairperson’s Introduction (Niall Crowley)

10.15 - 10.30Overview of the Work of the ESU (Laurence Bond)

10.30 - 11.00Findings and Lessons from the Work of the ESU (Tony Tyrrell and Tom Ronayne)

11.00 - 11.30Feedback, Questions and Discussion

11.30 - 12.20Workshops (Tea / Coffee at Tables)

12.20 - 12.40Feedback from Workshops

12.40 - 1.00Closing Session

The procedural agenda for the consultation is presented in Box 2. Essentially, this agenda was concerned with providing the participants with an overview of the work of the ESU and then listening to their views on this as well as eliciting their concerns and priorities in relation to the groups of people they were representing / working with. Procedurally, the workshop sessions were designed to facilitate the latter (see Box 3 for the specific objectives of the workshops).

Box 3: Workshop Objectives

  • identifying concerns and / or on-going barriers to participation in the measures comprising the EHRDOP being experienced by the people they work with / represent (noting those already documented);
  • making recommendations regarding how to actually promote and ensure participation by in the measures comprising the EHRDOP by the people they work with / represent (including identifying any innovations / good practices they are aware of);
  • considering the crossing cutting issue of gender in relation to participation in the measures comprising the EHRDOP by the people they work with / represent.

A total of 16 representatives from groups and organisations working with people covered by the WEOP attended the consultation. A listing of participants is presented in Annex 1.

3Summary of the Proceedings of the

Consultation

Two presentations were provided to participants. The first presentation was an overview of the work of the ESU (see Annex 2). The second was an overview of the findings and lessons arising from the work undertaken by WRC Social and Economic Consultants for the ESU (see Annex 3). These presentations sought to provide a succinct introduction to and overview of the work of the ESU for consideration by the participants in the consultation.

The response to these presentations formed the first plenary session of the consultation. The main points made by participants in response to these presentations were:

  • the need to ensure the implementation of the recommendations contained in measure studies and of the wider lessons arising from the work of the ESU. In particular, the EA / ESU should try to ensure that the lessons derived from the work to date are taken into account and acted on by the organisations responsible for implementing measures;
  • toolkits can be helpful in supporting new practice. Such toolkits should focus on informing organisations of the practical steps that can be taken to support the accommodation of diversity in the measures comprising the EHRDOP;
  • the need to promote positive action. More positive action is required to support the participation of people covered by the WEOP in the labour market programmes and in employment;
  • there are eligibility issues especially for asylum seekers. In particular, asylum seekers are not eligible to participate in the vast majority of measures comprising the EHRDOP; and,
  • the need for agencies responsible for implementing programmes under the EHRDOP to develop and adopt practices that actually reach people within the four groups covered by the WEOP. The provision of information in a manner accessible to people is a prerequisite for ensuring their access and participation;
  • the need to develop “Eurobarometer” type approaches that measure and assess attitudes and attitudinal change. Negative and / or stereotypical attitudes constitute an important and on-going barrier to participation in labour market programmes and accessing employment by the four groups covered by the WEOP. The prevalence of such attitudes needs to be assessed systematically.

Following the first plenary session, four workshops - each focusing on one of the four groups covered by the WEOP - were held. The specific objectives of these workshops have been presented above. The outcomes of each of the workshops are presented in Section 4 of this report.

The second plenary session consisted of feedback from the workshop and discussion of this. The core ideas coming from the workshops included:

  • the need to address design issues in labour market programmes. Specifically, programmes should be designed in a manner to support participation by the four groups covered by the WEOP. Areas requiring attention include:

-the need for flexibility in timing, location, duration etc.;

-the need to assess and ensure quality in specialist provision and to ensure that the content of programmes is labour market driven;

-the need to ensure equality is a design factor: that is there is a need to focus on the identity as well as the circumstances of participants and potential participants. Effectively, equality needs to be mainstreamed into the design of labour market programmes.

  • policy context needs changing

The overall policy context within which labour market policy and programmes operate is an import source of barriers to participation. This needs to be recognised and those aspects of policy that constitute barriers need to be identified and changed. Specifically, there is a need to address:

-eligibility issues;

-how qualifications are recognised;

-the resources available to support the participation of people from the four groups covered by the WEOP in labour market programmes;

-employer perspectives and practices that are acting as barriers to employment; and,

-the varying expectations of the labour market benefits that people have in relation to participation in education and training programmes.

  • practice issues for programmes

The issues raised under this heading included the:

-need to address discrimination and to ensure the accommodation of diversity is prioritised;

-need to focus on progression issues for participants;

need to stimulate a client centred environment for training;

-need to improve information provision to people regarding the opportunities arising from participation in the range of education and training programmes comprising the EHRDOP; and,

-need to develop supports for effective participation.

  • cross-cutting issues

While there was a recognition of the specific barriers and issues that arise in the case of each of the four groups covered by the WEOP, participants also identified a number of issues that arise for all groups. These included:

-the need to support the participation of individuals and of local / voluntary / representative organisations working with each of the four groups covered by the WEOP in programme design. That is, there is a need for active consultation between organisations with responsibility for the design of programmes and individuals who are the intended beneficiaries of such programmes as well as organisations representing and working with people from each of the four groups covered by the WEOP;

-the need to be aware of and to accommodate the evident diversity of each of the four groups. Considerable diversity in terms of circumstances, prior experiences of education and training, location, expectations and motivations is found among the four groups covered by the WEOP. This can often be overlooked with the result that education and training provision is accessible only to particular sub-groups within the overall group; and,

-the need to ensure that an eagerness to integrate does not result in people settling for inappropriate options.

4.Reports from Workshops

4.1Report of the Workshop on Members of the Traveller

cCommunity

Participants: Damien Peelo (Clondalkin Travellers’ Development Group), Anna Visser (NCCRI), Brid O’Brien (Pavee Point) and Patrick Nevin (Pavee Point).

Facilitator: Anne Timoney, Equality Authority.

Tone of ESU Engagement with Implementing Bodies

Overall it was argued that the work of the ESU needs to be more challenging to implementing agencies and related structures. It was felt this is required because the ‘softly, softly’ approach does not achieve change and progress at a fast enough pace. Meanwhile, Travellers continue to endure very poor labour market participation rates and the serious effects of this, including the lack of work acting as a contributing factor in suicides.

Racism

Participants agreed that racism against members of Traveller community is endemic and vigorous, presenting the most serious barrier to all aspects of labour market participation and success - from access to labour market programmes to gaining employment. The ESU should be aware of this context in all its work.

Employment Opportunities for Trainees

Participants argued that there should be an obligation on employers to take on people, including Travellers, who successfully complete courses, in particular in instances where employers are involved in requesting particular courses. A case was cited where a training programme was provided with a ‘guarantee’ of work because of skill shortages in an area and employers demand and yet the only people not offered employment on successful completion were the only two Traveller participants.

Learning from EQUAL Projects

It was agreed that mainstream provision could learn from models such as the EQUAL projects – courses should be skill based, have the potential for positive labour market outcomes, be flexible in terms of times and date and designed in consultation with target groups from the outset, free from threat to social welfare or other benefits, providing accreditation, delivered in modular format. The gaining of qualifications that are valuable in the labour market, such as the SafePass, is particularly important to Traveller men.

Capacity of Traveller Groups

Participants identified a problem with consultation with Traveller groups. It has been argued for some time that the design and planning of measures so that they accommodate Travellers requires consultation with Travellers. While this remains the case, participants highlighted an emerging issue in that resources for community and voluntary organisations such as Traveller groups and community development projects are less readily available than in the recent past. The poor funding of community groups restricts their capacity to participate in consultation. This was identified as an issue for the Equality Authority to take up, rather than the ESU per se.

Traveller Economy as a Legitimate Goal

Participants stressed the importance of the ESU promoting participation in the Traveller Economy as a valid goal of course participants. Neglect of the Traveller Economy - the lack of provision of related training and of acknowledgement of participation in the economy as a legitimate goal - were detrimental to successful outcomes for Travellers.

Positive Action

There was some discussion of the legal context for positive action, in particular the Equality Act 2004 defining positive action for employees and whether this constitutes a more narrow definition than previous legislation. It was thought that the 2004 Act could in effect limit the potential for positive action.

Embedding Equality

While many cases can be cited of individuals in implementing agencies including an equality focus in their work it is not seen that the same organisations have a systematic approach to equality and diversity. While interested individuals can do some good work in practice but this is not sustainable if an individual moves. Participants considered that this situation is not adequate, that bodies providing vocational education and training must embed principles of equality and diversity throughout their organisations. Even if at headquarters there is a specific section or unit assigned to promote equality and diversity the work does not necessarily filter through all organisational policy and practice. Indeed, the group identified the risk that reliance on specific named units or sections can mean that issues of equality are not mainstreamed. It was recommended that the ESU look at how equality becomes embedded in organisations and programmes.

Monitoring

Participants recommended that the ESU promote improved monitoring of equality in measures. They emphasised, in particular, the importance of markers / targets to act as goals and to determine success of equality and diversity policies and practices within measures.

Barriers- Entry Requirements and Assessments

Participants highlighted the issue of course entry requirements acting as barriers to participation. This is an issue of concern for members of the Traveller cCommunity as they suffer from lower educational qualifications, and entry requirements to vocational education and training can compound this disadvantage. The potential of alternate methods of assessment was also raised. It was recommended that the ESU examine this issue.

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