Employment

Mincéirí Port Láirge, Employment Section

Traveller Employment Programme

In response to the stark statistic of 83+% unemployment rate within the Traveller community Mincéirí Port Láirge has prioritised this very serious issue in its workplan.

Under the theme Employment and the Traveller Economy, the National Traveller & Roma Inclusion Strategy (2017 – 2021) calls for increased employment, training and apprenticeships opportunities for Travellers and Roma. NTRIS also states that there should be targeted positive public service recruitment to train and employ Traveller and Roma staff in the public services.

The strategy also states that proposals will be developed for internships for Traveller and Roma in Government Departments, Local Authorities and other public bodies.

In addition, NTRIS also states that the Department of Social Protection will ‘develop targeted initiatives to increase Traveller and Roma engagement with employment and training services.’

Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are considerable barriers to Travellers accessing employment in a wide variety of jobs. While many Travellers successfully complete accredited training with our organisation and are reaching high academic standards, there is still not a major take up or progression into the jobs market apart for jobs accessed in Traveller organisations. Mincéirí Port Láirge believes true integration will see Travellers taking up regular positions in the public, private and social economy jobs market across a range of fields. To this end Mincéirí Port Láirge wishes to propose a pilot initiative which will:

Undertake a piece of in-depth action research into the barriers faced by Travellers when trying to access the jobs market in Waterford
Work with local Travellers, employers and support services to pilot a number of job opportunities in the public, private and social economy areas
Provide on-going supports to Traveller workers and employers for the duration of the pilot phase

This proposal is currently on the agenda for the new Traveller Interagency Group Employment sub-committee and, with the support of our partners in various agencies, Mincéirí Port Láirge hopes to see the pilot progress in 2022.