Ms Joanna Corcoran:

I am a community employment supervisor in the Galway Traveller Movement, GTM, which was established in 1994. GTM is an independent Traveller community development organisation for Galway city and county. It is made up of Travellers and non-Travellers. Our work has always been rooted in an understanding of and respect for the distinct culture and ethnic identity of the Traveller community. GTM's vision is full equality for Travellers and the participation of Travellers in social, economic, political and cultural life as well as the broader enhancement of social justice and human rights.

Our work is motivated and guided by the following core values - social justice, equality, collectivity, participation and dignity. Members of my community experience a higher level of unemployment when compared with the settled population. According to a Central Statistics Office publication in 2016, the Traveller unemployment rate is 80%. The main barriers currently experienced by Travellers as regards the labour market as well enterprise activities include discrimination, whether direct or indirect, and half of all Travellers feel they experience discrimination, according to the All-Ireland Traveller Health Study to which reference was made; lack of appropriate enterprise guidance and support from mainstream enterprise support organisations and lack of trust among Travellers with traditional business support providers; and loss of, or fear of loss of, benefits, particularly regarding the medical card, given Travellers' poorer health status. This can mean Travellers would be fearful of taking up employment or testing new enterprise ideas. There is a lack of visible role models as many Travellers need to hide their identity to succeed in a hostile and anti-Traveller work environment. A national survey of Travellers in 2017 found that 52% of Travellers said they had experienced an obstacle when accessing employment and 43% indicated they had encountered discrimination while accessing employment.

Discrimination against Travellers, racism, unemployment and social exclusion have a negative impact on all Travellers - women, men young people and children. Travellers are not gaining employment from the mainstream State investment in enterprise programmes, foreign direct investment, training initiatives and local development programmes. While there is a national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy, NTRIS, there is not sufficient money or resources attached to the employment or enterprise actions in NTRIS. We need to create opportunities for Travellers to gain real jobs.

We in GTM have created 16 jobs alone for members of the Traveller community through our social enterprise activities. Since 2007, GTM has pursued an ambitious enterprise and social enterprise development strategy. We have formed two social enterprises: First Class Insulation, which has provided home insulation services in the west since 2010 and has delivered the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's better energy warmer homes scheme to more than 1,500 homes; and Bounce Back Recycling, BBR, which was established in 2017 to recycle mattresses and furniture. We offer a nationwide collection service to commercial and domestic clients. Our social enterprise mission is to explore and expand new social enterprise opportunities to increase employment opportunities for Traveller men and women; develop a powerful model of economic self-determination to inspire the wider community; reclaim the community's role in environmental and economic sustainability; and promoting the visibility of our work to challenge racism and discrimination. A third social enterprise, Springback Upcycling, which will provide furniture refurbishment and upcycling, is at a start-up stage.

The recommendations we make are as follows. It is essential that the needs of Travellers and other groups are assessed in preparation for all enterprise and employment programmes in order that the services will be appropriate to the needs and experiences of members of the Traveller community. This means Travellers are a part of the decision-making and planning process at local and national level with all stakeholders. Under public sector equality and human rights duty, equality impact assessment and anti-racism training should be mandatory in all policies, actions and plans relating to employment and enterprise, and Travellers should be involved in that whole process. All enterprise and employment agencies and bodies need to introduce an ethnic identifier to collect data on the participation and access of Travellers in their programmes. There should be a positive action programme in the public sector which targets Travellers and recruitment processes. This should be undertaken by the Government Public Appointments Service with the involvement and partnering of Traveller organisations to support its implementation. Given the significant funding provided by the State to support private enterprise, the State should require private employers in receipt of State support to put in place strategies and actions to secure a diverse workforce. The State should also put in place resources to support this.

GTM calls for the special initiative for Travellers' programmes to become a peer-led programme, housed within Traveller organisations. GTM should be funded as a selected organisation to support Traveller organisations nationally to explore social enterprise development. We are well placed to do this and, as a result of recent national radio and conference coverage, we are receiving requests for support from Traveller organisation and local development companies throughout Ireland. The use of social clauses and social considerations in the procurement process is provided for in procurement directives and a pilot to explore how this could work should be developed. GTM has experience of delivering social benefits through the procurement process. The local economic and community plans, LECPs, must include formal participation of communities that have experienced the most disadvantage, including Travellers. Explicit commitment to this must be provided by local authorities. Unless Traveller organisations are participating in the structure developing local plans, we believe the plans that emerge cannot address the employment and enterprise needs of Travellers. Collaboration should take place with Traveller organisations in designing, delivering and promoting culturally specific and targeted supports and programmes, including enterprise programmes and social enterprises.

A complete overhaul of the current system that is delivering on equality outcomes needs to happen. The structural inequality needs to be addressed. The development of an innovative employment strategy with clear targets and adequate resources for success needs to happen. Employers need to recruit Travellers and champion social change. Investment in peer-led social enterprise models that can deliver on results for the Traveller community should happen. Members of the Traveller community need to be fully included as part of any employment recovery plan post Covid-19. The Government needs to take leadership and implement meaningful change through positive action measures. I thank the members for listening.