The Houses of the Oireachtas Work Learning programme, OWL, added to its recent awards success at the National Diversity & Inclusion Awards held at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre in February 2024.
The programme was the recipient of the "Advancing Disability Equality Award", given to an organisation that leads the way in advancing disability equality in the workplace. The overall awards celebrate and champion individuals and organisations that go above and beyond in their commitment to excellence in diversity and inclusion. The gala awards event is organised by the Irish Centre for Diversity and is the only event dedicated to celebrating and recognising advances in diversity and inclusion in Ireland.
Speaking after the awards success, Clerk of the Dáil and Secretary General of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Peter Finnegan, said the win recognised the Service as a role model "in creating an inclusive culture and in championing inclusive recruitment, which allows employees with disabilities to realise their full potential".
Breda Burke, Principal Officer, accepts the award on behalf of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service. Image courtesy of Irish Centre for Diversity.
In commenting on why the OWL programme was chosen ahead of others to receive the award, the judging panel said they "picked an organisation that has developed a highly comprehensive work and learn programme in partnership with WALK and KARE - providing sustainable, inclusive and developmental pathways to real employment for people with intellectual disabilities."
The judging panel further commented that "The programme has been developed in such a way to scale the initiative across the broader civil service and was truly impressive in its cross-department engagement and execution" and should be "particularly complimented for their ability to adapt and sustain the programme during the Covid-19 pandemic and the follow-on supports provided to graduates of the programme".