Written answers
Tuesday, 26 June 2018
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
National Traveller-Roma Integration Strategy
Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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559. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the progress on each action outlined in the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 that fall under her Department’s remit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27975/18]
Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Inclusion Strategy referred to by the Deputy is a whole of Government initiative aimed at improving the lives of the Traveller and Roma communities in Ireland.
My Department is committed to advancing new employment and economic opportunities for these communities, through effective public employment services, and in partnership with stakeholders on the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy Steering Group, informed by representatives of the Traveller and Roma communities.
Progress on the actions relevant to my Department in the Strategy is set out in the following two tables, covering the two themes of “Employment and the Traveller Economy” and “Public Services”.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Table 1: DEASP progress on actions under theme 3 of the NTRIS: Employment and The Traveller Economy
| No. | Action | Progress Made/Planned Progress |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | The Department of Social Protection (DEASP) will promote the availability of existing employment and training services (e.g. those provided by the Education and Training Boards) to the Roma and Traveller communities and continue to ensure promotional and information materials are available and accessible on any of its schemes and services including via the Department's website. The Department of Social Protection will provide tailored supports for the long-term unemployed and for young people to build their confidence and prepare them for the workplace. | The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) is currently planning a series of customer information campaigns for 2018 on how best to promote the availability of existing employment and training services to both the traveller and Roma communities as outlined in the National Traveller/Roma Inclusion Strategy. In the coming months, the Department will seek to engage with a number of Traveller and Roma representative groups to discuss the schemes and services with a view to assessing how best to proceed with the promotion of these schemes and services. |
| 25 | The Department of Social Protection will develop targeted initiatives to increase Traveller and Roma engagement with employment and training services. | In order to inform developments on this action, the Department has begun collating statistical information (to the extent that this is available) on current levels of participation by the Traveller and Roma communities in activation programmes. |
| 27 | The Department of Social Protection and Department of Rural and Community Development with put in place liaison arrangements between INTREO and the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) to enable Travellers and Roma to access relevant supports, training and opportunities. | DEASP staff in INTREO offices will continue to work in partnership with SICAP officers to enable Travellers and Roma customers to access relevant supports, training and opportunities. |
| 32 | The Department of Social Protection, in collaboration where appropriate with the Department of Justice and Equality, will support Traveller MABS. | The DEAPS supports National Traveller MABS (NTMABS), by way of including provision for an onward annual grant from the Citizens Information Board's overall annual funding allocation. In 2018, NTMABS has been allocated €308,576 from CIB's budget |
| 36 | The Department of Social Protection will ensure that Travellers and Roma under the age of 25 who register as unemployed claimants of Jobseekers' payments will receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within a period of four months of registering, in line with commitments under the Youth Guarantee. | This is ongoing under the 'Youth Guarantee'. |
Table 2: DEASP progress on actions under theme 10 of the NTRIS: Public Services
Theme: 10. Public Services
| Number | Action | Progress Made / Planned Progress |
|---|---|---|
| 143 | All Departments and relevant agencies will ensure that all relevant public service staff members receive anti-racism and cultural awareness training. | The Department continues to provide up-to-date information and training to staff on entitlements for all clients in relation to its schemes and services. Awareness and respect for equality and diversity (including relevant legislation) is an integral component of all our training activity in line with the core values of the Department. A programme framework of a QQI Level 6 Certificate in Social Protection Studies has been developed DEASP in partnership with the National College of Ireland. The framework has been submitted and presented to QQI for formal evaluation and validation and is currently progressing through the governance processes and structures. The DEASP and NCI expect to be a position to commence enrolments in Q4 2018, subject to official QQI validation. |
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