I thank the Chair and members of the committee for giving us the opportunity to talk to them about the research we have undertaken on behalf of the St. Stephen’s Green Trust to look at Traveller employment pathways. I want to acknowledge the third member of our research team, Bridget Kelly, who unfortunately could not be here today.
I want to give a quick presentation on the core findings of the research. This research comes in the context of the significantly low levels of employment among the Traveller community in comparison with non-Travellers. Those figures have been well rehearsed. It also comes in the context of the unfulfilled employment aspirations of Travellers. The research fills a gap in that it looks at and explores the experiences of Travellers who, despite many barriers, have successfully negotiated a pathway into mainstream employment. The research is qualitative in nature and involved in-depth interviews with 15 Traveller adults, men and women, all of whom were working in mainstream employment. It also involved interviews with employers, key policymakers and two social partners.
I will present the research findings in three areas, namely, getting work-ready, getting into employment, and experiences in development and progression while in work. I want to present some of the barriers and enablers that were identified by interviewees in each of those three areas. The core barriers that were identified in getting work-ready were educational disadvantage and a lack of access to work experience as students. That educational disadvantage means that 12 of those we interviewed had all left school early, principally due to experiences of racism in school and experiences of teachers having low expectations of them. They had all had their education interrupted, some for years, but almost all of them went back to education at some point. Another key barrier in getting work-ready was a lack of access to work experience while a student. For example, some third level courses are determined on the student getting access to an employer that will take him or her on for work experience. That is a key barrier for Travellers, who find it extremely difficult to get that kind of work experience.
I refer to enablers to getting work-ready.
The key things that emerged were the role of local Traveller organisations and other community organisations in bringing people back to education and developing their skills. The role that local Traveller and community organisations played was key for those Travellers who left school early and were trying to find a way back into further education and training.
The role of Traveller-led social economy enterprises was also key for a number of people with whom we spoke. Ms Corcoran will speak a bit more about the role of Bounce Back Recycling in Galway. Other key enablers were local community centres providing further education and training courses. The third level access programme was key for a number of people. People often linked into that third level access programme through their local Traveller organisation or community organisation. Another core enabler that emerged in terms of giving people a sense of work experience and something for their curriculum vitae were internships in the public sector. For a couple of people, that was their first foothold and a key foothold in terms of getting their first job.
In respect of getting into employment, the key barriers that emerged were discrimination at the point of recruitment. A few people with whom we spoke decided on a career path based on the presumption they were going to be discriminated against so the chosen career path for a couple of people was going into the public sector rather than the private sector on the basis that they would be less likely to experience discrimination if they were working in the public sector.
The lack of connections or networks was a key barrier for people in terms of getting that first foothold into a job. We underestimate the kind of connections that non-Travellers have. We have many connections and networks that we gain through family members and friends in employment. Members of the Traveller community do not have those same connectors and networks so that was a key barrier.
Caring responsibilities emerged as a barrier in terms of getting into employment - not solely for women but also for men. A couple of the men with whom we spoke chose specific jobs that would allow them flexibility in terms of child caring responsibilities. Another core barrier in terms of the decision to take a job was the potential loss of secondary benefits, particularly the medical card.
In terms of enablers, while the lack of connectors was a barrier, having a trusted connector to get into that first job was a key enabler for a number of people. This emerged more easily for those Travellers who had completed third level education at the same time as their peers. They were able to access those kind of connectors in terms of the connections and networks they made in universities. For other Travellers, those kind of connectors were made through having a family member employed in an organisation that could vouch for them or connectors through local Traveller organisations and local community organisations. A second key enabler were employment supports through local Traveller organisations. Some local community organisations had specific job coaches who, for a number of people, were named as being critical in terms of supporting them and giving them the confidence to apply for and get their first job.
The other set of barriers relating to experience in work were forms of harassment in the workplace that were experienced in the form of micro-aggressions, not being comfortable with being open about one's ethnic identity in the workplace and not being afforded opportunities to progress. Some people felt this was directly because of their Traveller identity.
Enablers in the work environment included the importance of having a positive, supportive and family-friendly workplace culture, in particular supportive line managers. This was particularly in the context where somebody might have been the only Traveller in the organisation and felt they had a line manager who was really supportive in that regard, looked out for them and made sure they got opportunities. For some people, the presence of anti-racism and intercultural training for staff was a key enabler in terms of addressing harassment and racism in the workplace.
We have a number of recommendations arising from the research. It is critical that Travellers are named in mainstream labour market policies. The key policy in this regard would be the new Pathways to Work strategy being developed. We understand that the new strategy is about to be published. The last strategy did not name Travellers as a target group, which was a core gap, so it is critical that Travellers are named in mainstream policies. Arising out of that naming, specific targeted measures are needed to address the significant unemployment gap. Those targeted measures could then be implemented and driven through the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy, which will be reviewed. The next iteration is coming shortly. Underpinning this policy strategy should be the more effective implementation of the public sector equality and human rights duty, which is a legal obligation for Departments and public bodies. This is particularly critical in the areas of employment services. The use of an ethnic identifier is also critical given that there is very little data to tell us where Travellers are using specific employment services and the outcomes.
We think a systemic work experience programme across the public sector that would have internships specifically targeting groups that are very distanced from the labour market such as Travellers is important. In line with the finding around the importance of trusted connectors to act as a link to bring Travellers into employment and link them with potential employers, we suggest that a network of Traveller employment liaison workers who would be employed through the Department of Social Protection might be a useful way to go in this regard.
Other initiatives include expanding and deepening peer-led services. The Traveller health programme, which is a peer-led programme, would be a key model in this regard - again as bridge to link Travellers with potential employers, third level education and third level access programmes.
Social enterprise is a key area for Travellers and a key area of untapped potential. The national social enterprise policy is about to be reviewed. We believe there is a key opportunity there to name Travellers as a target group and look at targeted initiatives around getting Travellers to look at social enterprise as an employment option. The last recommendation involves the importance of guidance and supports should be developed for employers and trade unions, which obviously have a key role to play in respect of employment pathways for the Traveller community.
