Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 10 December 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community

Traveller Employment: Discussion

Photo of Colette KelleherColette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the members and witnesses. We have spent a really interesting couple of hours discussing this matter and we will spend more time discussing three more modules. The 80% unemployment rate among Travellers is beyond shocking. When one says it is shocking that almost sounds banal and trivialises this issue. We have no choice but not to leave Travellers where they are, as Mr. Reilly so eloquently put it.

The Pathways to Work review is a clear opportunity. Travellers need to have a meaningful role in this, with programmes that work for them. We need a range of targeted and generic interventions. We need mainstream access but we also need specialised and specific assistance. We need the whole gamut of interventions if we are tackle the current rate of 80% unemployment. I heard what was said about quotas but they should only be introduced in consultation with the Traveller community. Interns must be paid and internships must be meaningful, rather than just a box-ticking exercise. Work experience in the private sector opens doors. The social capital that children gain through work experience and in school and university is huge in terms of their future prospects and getting into the workplace.

We have to name and tackle the prejudice that exists in society and carries into the workplace. This prejudice results in people having to hide their identities or change their addresses to get a job for which they are probably overqualified. We have a lot of food for thought. I thank everybody very much. I thank committee members for their patience, particularly Deputy Joan Collins who waited right until the end. I thank everybody who contributed this morning.

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