Mr. Gavin Gilvarry:

I will tell the committee a little bit about my journey in education over the past few years, from when I left school up to where I am now. When I left school, I was not sure what I wanted to do. It was hard to find options to suit me and I felt a bit lost. From 2016 to 2018, I did some Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, courses to try to develop my skills. I did courses in career exploration and Microsoft Word and Excel. It was good to try to do those courses, to continue my education and get started on the path to employment, but parts of the courses could be difficult. They did not always suit my learning needs.

I also did some work experience placement but I was still finding it hard to know which way to turn. My family have always been a great support to me and, outside of my family, I was looking for support with my further education and getting into a career.

From September 2018 to July 2019, I took part in the WALKways Tallaght University Hospital programme. I got to do work experience, three placements in three different departments in the hospital; medical records, facilities management and in the warehouse. In September 2019, I moved on to the OWL programme at Leinster House to continue with my skills development. During my time on the OWL programme, I did work experience placement in the inquiries office and HR unit and remote working tasks for the Parliamentary Questions Office.

While we were doing our work experience placement on those programmes, we did classes during the week with the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire education and training board and the City of Dublin education and training board. Each week, we would have two class sessions. The classes we did were work experience and career preparation. The classes were made in order that they were at the right level for everyone on the programme. This meant all of us trainees could really learn the course work and put it to practice.

Our course work was related to the work we were doing in Departments and offices. We would take what we learned in the class and use it in our work experience. It was a helpful way to learn and provided me with the employment skills I needed to grow in confidence and take the next step. I learned so much about the working world and I felt that I could learn at my own pace.

It also helped me to move the next stage, which was updating my CV, applying for a job and going for an interview. In December 2021, I did my first big job interview for a job in the civil service and came first on the panel. I hope to start working in a clerical role soon. An important part of my journey was to learn at my own pace in a way that suited me. I am so proud of what I have achieved and I have always known I am not in this world to do nothing. I cannot wait to see what this new year brings me.