steppingstonestoimprovinglabour marketparticipationratesfor … · 2016-07-18 · contents part i...

Stepping Stones to Improving LabourMarket Participation Rates for

Travellers in the GreaterBlanchardstown Area

JOBLINK

BAPBlanchardstown Area PartnershipDillon House 106Coolmine Business ParkClonsilla, Dublin 15Tel: +353 1 820 9550Fax: +353 1 820 9551Website: www.bap.ie

Copyright ©Conor Ryan, 2008Email: [email protected]

Designed by Barbara Croatto

Photography courtesy of Siobhán Ryan

Dodder River, Terenure, Dublin 6W

Contents

PART IAcknowledgments PAGE 1

The Research Content PAGE 2

Introduction PAGE 3

PART IISocio-Economic Profile of Travellersin Greater Blanchardstown PAGE 5

PART IIIField Research Findings PAGE 9

PART IVConclusion PAGE 27

PART VRecommendations PAGE 34

PART VIAppendices

Community Employment PAGE 38

Research Methodology PAGE 40

Map of Greater Blanchardstown PAGE 42

PART VIIBibliography PAGE 44

PART I‘The aim of this research study is toexamine what prevents anddiscourages some members of theTraveller community in Dublin 15from entering the labour marketand/or setting up their ownbusiness.’

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Acknowledgements

The researcher would like to thank the following individuals.

In particular the Traveller men and women from Blanchardstown who freely gave up their time andagreed to participate in this research project.

Members of the research steering group:7 Terry McCabe, Deputy Manager of Blanchardstown Area Partnership.7 Gerry Keogh, Co-ordinator of Blanchardstown Local Employment Service.7 Catherine Joyce, Co-ordinator of Blanchardstown Traveller Development Group.7 Tom Toner, Community Employment Supervisor.7 Carmel Fitzpatrick, Blanchardstown Centre for the Unemployed.

Other contributors and interviewees:7 Lilian Harris, Community Development Officer, Blanchardstown Area Partnership.7 Brenda O’Brien, Mediator Blanchardstown Local Employment Service.7 Audrey Travers, Women’s Training Programme.7 Marion McKenna, FÁS Worker, Coolock.7 Brian Mooney, National Education and Welfare Board.7 Alan Breathnach, Clondalkin Enterprise Centre .7 Tony Nolan, Tallaght Local Employment Service.7 Pauline Mangan, Community Development Officer, Blanchardstown Area Partnership.7 Fergus Dunne.7 Central Statistics Office7 FÁS Social Inclusion Unit7 EQUAL

The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewsof Blanchardstown Area Partnership, Blanchardstown Local Employment Service and theBlanchardstown Traveller Development Group.

Since 2001 a FÁS sponsored, CommunityEmployment1 course has been deliveredspecifically for Traveller women via theBlanchardstown Traveller Development Groupfrom Unit 1A Damastown Business Park.

A women’s training programme, which is a localtraining initiative has also been delivered fromthis same unit. This programme started on avoluntary basis and the participants onlyreceived expenses for participating in theprogramme.

FÁS became centrally involved afterwards andnow the participants receive a basic trainingallowance and expenses. This is a part-timemorning training programme that provides avariety of courses. Different levels of literacyprogrammes are covered. FETAC accreditedcourses from hairdressing, personal andinterpersonal skills, personal care andpresentation, preparation for work, office work,computers and childcare. FÁS funds theprogramme and the local VEC also offers sometutor hours.

Unfortunately, not many female Travellers havesuccessfully made the transition from the CEProgramme into the open labour market. Thisoutcome has been a source of disappointmentfor the team of people at the BlanchardstownTravellers’ Development Group supporting localTraveller women.

The Blanchardstown Travellers’ DevelopmentGroup approached the Blanchardstown AreaPartnership with a request to complete anindependent piece of research, and examinewhy Traveller women were having difficultiestaking up part- or full- time employment.It was envisaged that the report would informthe education and training strategies of bothorganisations in progressing Travellers intoemployment.

To facilitate this task, a research proposal wasdrawn up by the Partnership’s Research andEvaluation Officer. This proposal was acceptedby both organisations and helped guide theresearch process.

1. The Blanchardstown Traveller Development Group has a deliberate policy of not accepting persons under 18 years of age onto its scheme. Please referto appendix for a full overview of Community Employment.2|

The Research Content

The aim of this research study is to examine what prevents and discourages some members of theTraveller community in Dublin 15 from entering the labour market and / or setting up their ownbusiness.

OBJECTIVES7 To examine if Travellers have any apprehensions about taking up mainstream employment and

self-employment.

7 To examine what the barriers are for Travellers availing of employment opportunities.

7 To identify and document Travellers views and experiences of long-term unemployment.

7 To examine the lack of targeted initiatives for male Travellers.

7 To examine why previous planned initiatives and actions never ‘took off’ or succeeded.

7 To examine approaches in other Partnership areas to supporting Travellers from an employment,self-employment, and training perspective.

7 To examine if there are any ‘attitudinal barriers’ amongst employers to hiring members of theTravelling community in Blanchardstown.

7 To examine why participants are not progressing in expected numbers from Traveller specificprogrammes into part-time and full- time mainstream employment.

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Introduction

PART IISocio-Economic Profile ofTravellers in Blanchardstown

‘The age profile of the Travellercommunity in Blanchardstowndiffers markedly from that of thegeneral population.’

A specific question on ethnic or culturalbackground was included on the 2006 Censusform for the first time. A request wassubmitted to the Central Statistics Office toextract small area population statistics fromthe 2006 census. The following socio-economicprofile of Travellers in Blanchardstown will drawupon this data set.

POPULATIONThe 2006 census enumerated 645 Travellers2 livingwithin the Blanchardstown Area Partnership’scatchment area.

In contrast a survey by CROSSCARE conductedin 2002 counted 196 Traveller families inBlanchardstown, which translates to about 990individual Travellers resident in Dublin 15.

YOUNGER AGE PROFILE AMONGTRAVELLER COMMUNITY

The age profile of the Traveller community inBlanchardstown differs markedly from that ofthe general population. The distinctive agestructure of the Traveller Community resultedin a median age of 18 compared with a nationalfigure of 33.

41.7% of the overall Traveller population areaged between 0-14 years of age compared with20% for the population as a whole in Ireland.The high birth rate prevalent in the Travellercommunity contributes to higher proportionsin the 0-14 age groups.

HEALTH STATUSAn Economic and Social Research Institutereport in 1986 (ESRI, research series 131) foundthat Traveller life expectancy was equivalent tothat of settled people in Ireland in the 1940s.However, there are no specific nationalstatistics available on Traveller health andmortality. Death certificates do not record aperson’s ethnicity and as a result it is notpossible to determine the life expectancy ofTravellers in Blanchardstown.

A Health Research Board study3 found thatTravellers had higher death rates for accidents,respiratory ailments and congenital relatedillnesses when compared with the settledcommunity.

Persons aged 65 years and over accounted for2.17% of the total Traveller population in theGreater Blanchardstown area in comparisonwith 3.78% of the general population.

LABOUR MARKET CHARACTERISTICSSince 2002 the total number of people at workin Blanchardstown has increased significantly.An additional 7,231 persons are now inemployment and as a result the labour marketparticipation rates for Blanchardstown rosefrom 69.1% to 74.50%. The labour marketparticipation rate for Travellers inBlanchardstown is lower at 60.37%.

When broken down into separate industries,the wholesale and retail trade categoriescontained the highest numbers of Traveller

2. Some Travellers recognise themselves as an ethnic group, and have been trying to persuade the Irish government to recognise this as part of a nationalcampaign. A specific question on ethnic or cultural background included on the 2006 Census form for the first time. This change in terminology on theCensus form could explain the lower reported number of Travellers counted in the GBA vis a vis 2002.

3. Travellers’ Health Study. Dublin: Health Research Board, 1986.5|

Socio-Economic Profile of Travellersin Greater Blanchardstown

employees. There are cultural factors whichexplain this lower participation: for example,the higher proportion of Travellers engaged in‘home duties’ (27.12%) compared with thegeneral population, (9.24%)4.

UNEMPLOYMENTThe level of unemployment in Blanchardstown(11.13%) 5 remains significantly higher than thenational average of 8.5%. This overall averagepercentage for the Blanchardstown areadisguises the double-digit unemployment ratethat still prevails in several neighbourhoods.25.89% of the potential labour force areunemployed in Tyrrelstown ED compared with5.07% in Roselawn.

When the corresponding employment data forthe Traveller community in Blanchardstown isanalysed it reveals that the unemployment rateof Travellers differs significantly from the widerpopulation.

82.38% of the Traveller working population areunemployed in the Greater BlanchardstownArea. In the absence of specific labour marketprogrammes such as Community Employmentand the Women’s Training Programme thefigure would probably be higher.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTA strong link exists between educationalattainment and earning capacity. As a result thelevel of educational disadvantage in an areacould be regarded as a proxy measure for socialand / or economic deprivation.

There has been a continuous improvement inthe level of education among adults over thepast 4 years in Blanchardstown. For instance the

percentage of the overall population, whoreported having no formal or primary educationfell from 15.7% to 12.42%.

The percentage of Blanchardstown’s overallpopulation who have a third-level qualificationrose from 29% to 36.63%. This was higher thanthe national average of 30.5% although slightlylower than the Dublin average of 38.5%.However, there are wide variations ineducational attainment even withinBlanchardstown.

25.1% of adults in Tyrellstown have either noformal or only attended primary education. Thecomparable figure in Blakestown ED is 8.8%.

49.7% of residents in Abbotstown attained athird-level qualification compared to 12.5% inTyrrelstown, which is the lowest in Fingal.

66% of Traveller population in the GBA whoseeducation has now ceased comprised peopleaged 15 years and over with no formal orprimary education.

Excluding ‘not stated’ 82 per cent of Travellersin Blanchardstown ceased their educationbefore the prevailing statutory minimum ageof 15 years.

SOCIAL CLASSThe entire population is divided into sevensocial class groups, which are defined on thebasis of occupation.6 In Blanchardstown, 29.3%of the population fell into social class 1 and 2.32.9% of the national population were in thesesame class. 28.2% of the national populationwere in social classes 4 and 5. 29.39% ofBlanchardstown’s population were in socialclasses 4 and 5.

4. 102 Travellers out of 376 adults in the GBA aged 15 and over were categorised as looking after the home / family.5. The unemployment percentages presented at a local ED level are calculated using the Principal Economic Status (PES) of individuals and are extracted

from the 2006 Census Volume. National official statistics in Ireland now rely upon the International Labour Office (ILO) criteria for measuringunemployment. This method is not applied at a local level.

6. Professional Workers, Managerial and Technical, Non-manual, Skilled manual, Semi-skilled, Unskilled, All others gainfully occupied and unknown. Theoccupations included in each of these groups have been selected in such a way as to bring together, as far as possible, people with similar levels ofoccupational skills. In determining social class no account is taken of the differences between individuals on the basis of other characteristics such aseducation. The social class of family dependents is derived from the social class of the parent having the highest social class.

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SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE

Of greater significance is data relating to thatof social class 7. This category is ‘unclassified’and includes those who have never been in paidemployment, or who live in households wherethe head of household has never been in paidemployment.

84.65% of the Traveller population in the GBAfell into social class 7. In contrast, 21.81% ofBlanchardstown’s overall population wereenumerated in social class 7, considerablyhigher than 17.6% found nationally.

HOUSEHOLD STRUCTUREAND NATURE OF OCCUPANCY

The clear trend in Blanchardstown over the pastfour years among the overall population istowards smaller households; a further declinein the proportion of traditional nuclear families;an increase in female and male single parenthouseholds and increasing numbers of singlepersons sharing a dwelling.

According to the 2006 census, there are 20,408permanent households in the BlanchardstownPartnership area. Between 2002 and 2006 anadditional 5,134 houses were built. This growthin households has been accompanied bydeclining household occupancy rates from 3.31per household in 2002 to 3.1 in 2006. Owner-occupied dwellings continue to be the mostprevalent occupancy status

In contrast many Travellers continue to live inlarge numbers at communal establishmentsespecially in the Abbotstown and Ward EDs.50% of all Travellers in the GBA either live incaravans or mobile / temporary structures.According to census 2006, a further 26% live indetached houses. It is striking how manyTravellers live in isolation from the physicalmargins of settled society at official permanentsites in the area and at temporary halting sitesin Cappagh at St Mary’s and St Christopher’s.

(Please refer to the ordnance survey map in theappendix)

LONE PARENTSLone parents are not a homogeneous group butinclude many different types of family in whichunmarried, separated or widowed parents (maleand female) bringing up children alone.

37.1% of Traveller families with children in theGBA are lone-parent families. Lone parents forall children constitute 28.63% of all householdsin Blanchardstown. These figures exceed thenational average of 25.2%

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SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE

PART IIIField Research Findings

‘I find as well that the commitmentfor young Traveller mothers,they’re willing to go on coursesand work but is has to be betweena kinda part-time course or part-time work.’

‘Left out when you were young atschool.’

‘You’re just Irish. It’s not till I cameback here that I experienceddiscrimination.’

To examine if Travellers have anyapprehensions about taking up

mainstream employmentand self-employment.

COMMENTARYMany of the Traveller women on theCommunity Employment Programme leftschool before completing their LeavingCertificate, and married at a young age. As onewomen pointed out

“If you were notmarried at 17 your were lefton the shelf.”

As a result the majority of women, who were onthe Community Employment scheme, are onlynow receiving education and training supportafter a gap of several years. For a number ofTraveller women the time span is far longer.

Many Travellers living in Blanchardstown [asindicated on the ordnance survey map) arelocated on the physical margins of settledsociety in The Ward and Abbotstown ED. Thishas been the case for many years.

Very often Travellers live amongst one anotherin communal establishments with theirextended families. This extended ‘Travellerfamily unit’ can help shape and govern Travellermen and women’s patterns of behaviour, andthe societal expectations that govern theireveryday lives.

One should not overlook the fact that Travellerson average die ten years earlier than settledpeople. As in settled society, social care for theyoung and elderly is primarily the responsibility

of women in Traveller society. This can restrictthe opportunities for Traveller women whomight otherwise genuinely want to go out andwork on at least a part time basis.Finally several of the findings are time related.Since the completion of the original fieldworkphase, additional training and interview-relatedskills has taken place. Several of the women onCE have also registered with the LocalEmployment Service and approached theMobile Information Service run by theBlanchardstown Centre for the Unemployed.

Fieldwork Findings

TRAVELLER FAMILY STRUCTURE,EXPECTATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Traveller women were very vociferous inrepeatedly emphasising that family commitmentsand the rearing of their children were thenumber one priorities in their lives. Many of theTraveller women felt uneasy about the prospectof leaving their children behind and going outto work, especially in a full-time job. The lure orattraction of an independent career comes adistant second to raising a family.

This is a critical finding and it should not bediscounted lightly. Nor should it be ‘explainedaway’ as a generational factor that settledwomen went through in achieving greatergender equality after the emergence of thefeminist movement in the 1970s.

“You can understand that as well but I thinkto be honest when they are taking out amortgage they have to look into that as wellfor responsibilities, with Travellers for me

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Field Research Findings

they work full time and their child finishesschool and from there goes to a crèche itssix o’clock there is no way, I just feel awful asif I were throwing her or neglecting herthere.”

“Do you knowwhat I find as well, do youknow yourmother now, do you know if youwere constantly gone because they workedthey were brought upmeant to be in thehome, if they’re constantly gone, motherwould say you should be there your childrenare lost.”

They don’t look down upon someone whogoes out to work, they probably think theirplace is being neglected, their children isbeing neglected you know that kinda way.”

In addition some of the Traveller women wereclearly conscious of how other Travellers wouldlook upon them if they went out to work ineither a part-or full-time capacity. Thebehaviour of Traveller women was kept in checkby cultural expectations and duties.

“If I had a sister that was constantly goneand I seen her children turn around, I wouldtell her myself as well.”

“Oh she’s working seven days a week untilsuch a time and children is there you knowthat kinda thing like.”

Several CE participants also made tellingremarks that highlight additional expectationsthat would fall upon a Traveller women wereshe to go out and work either part or full time.

“But a lot of settled womenwould go out towork full time but they would always havetheir husbands support by cooking themeals, sometimes a Traveller would go offto work full time, say she would, shewouldn’t come back and have her mealcooked, she would have to do that as well(laughter) You have that pressure on thewoman.”

“I find as well that the commitment foryoung Traveller mothers, they’re willing togo on courses and work but it has to bebetween a kinda part-time course or part-time work. It’s very seldom like you’ll get aTraveller to commit themselves to full timework or a women anyway, that’s myopinion.”

“It’s the very very odd fella that would dothat” “They don’t do housework they don’tdo dinner.”

“Even if she did she would still have to comeback a do a full days work.”

One Traveller man gave his own viewpoint inrelation to why Traveller women are not takingup employment opportunities.

“Women over 30 don’t want to work butthat there was some hope with the youngerwomen.”

LOSS OF SECONDARY BENEFITSA couple of women mentioned how theirhusbands were signing on at the local socialwelfare on behalf of the couple. This form of co-dependence restricts the options available toTraveller women who otherwise might wish totake up a part-or full-time job.

“Well say for a lot of them their spouses aresigning on for them, or they’re on loneparent books or pension books, so in orderfor them to go into the CS, they see it as atemporary placement, which it is, it[‘]s onlyfor 6months, and they have to give up allthese benefits in order to do that, sofinancially they don’t see it as of interest tothem, so two people in this area weresuccessful in getting 6month placement inthe CS which they were facilitated throughthis project.”

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FIELD RESEARCH FINDINGS

LACK OF VALIDATION AND RECOGNITION OFTRAVELLER CULTURE AND IDENTITY

From the conversations that took place withthe CE participants, most were willing to workbut preferably alongside other Travellers. In agroup situation the Traveller women arecomfortable alongside their peers, but onceoutside that circle of family or friends they feelisolated, alienated and vulnerable.

“I done this before, worked as a privatehealthcare worker in Pavee Point for nearseven year. I’d like to show them the rightroad to go on that’s what I’m doing.”“I would like a job that I could teach youngTravellers, you know, the womenwho comeover for literacy or do something like that.”

“They feel confident in a group situation dueto the peer support but on their own theydefinitely have problems adjusting and ifthe Traveller womenwere going to take upjobs they would have to have two Travellersin my opinion in the one place, it would haveto be a Traveller-friendly environment andthey would have to have amentor for atleast six months to give them the supportthey needed.”

There are several factors that contribute to thissense of alienation and vulnerability. SomeTravellers believe that the settled communitydo not view them as equals. Many Travellers donot wish to risk a confrontation, which leavesthem open to harassment or belittlement bymembers of the dominant society.

In addition some of the women also hadnegative experiences within the formal stateschool system, which should also be factoredinto discussions of this issue. It is only from acommunity education approach that theTraveller women are engaging with courses onoffer from the Blanchardstown TravellerDevelopment Group with the support of FÁSand the VEC.

LACK OF CONFIDENCE AND SELF-BELIEFSeveral of the women appeared to lack self-confidence and unfortunately doubted theirown abilities despite being more than capableof holding down an office job. This came acrossthrough first hand conversations with thewomen.

“You kinda need education and stuff like,my kinda job if I was looking for one wouldbe as sales assistant or something like that,not doing paper work. I don’t thinkmyeducation would be up to it. Dunnes, tillwork.”

“It’s helping you but I don’t know if it will getyou there down the line, I am improving a bit.”

It was also verified at a one-to-one interviewheld with a Local Employment Servicesmediator that several of the women onCommunity Employment were ideal candidatesfor office jobs and were to be notified ofvacancies through the LES Employment Unit.

“It’s amindset, it’s a very comfortableposition, if you think for a Traveller female,it’s the first time Traveller women haveworked outside the home, they have beenvery well looked after on the CE project, theyhave learnt and gained a lot from this wholesocial network and they thought of justbeing taken out of this again, they just seeit, as going home.

It was remarked upon that until very recentlyTravellers, possibly for reasons of security andease of mind, tended to stick close to home andtheir next of kin. This trend is beginning tochange, however, with members of the youngerTraveller generation mixing more openly withsettled persons. As younger Travellers now stayon in school longer than was typical in theirparent’s generation, opinions and preconceptionswithin both communities are being challengedand questioned more openly.

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To examine what are the barriersfor Travellers availing of

employment opportunities.

LACK OF CLEAR AND ACCESSIBLEINFORMATION

The majority of the CE participants lackedprecise and clear information on therepercussions for their individual or householdincome in the event of taking up ‘openemployment’. There was a lot of confusion oversocial welfare entitlements, and retention ofsecondary benefits.

“But do you not find though that SocialWelfare kinda gives themwronginformation.”

“Because if a woman is actually on her ownand she’s getting a lone payment she can’tget it, they won’t give it to her. I don’t knowwhat the issue is.”

“Well say for a lot of them their spouses aresigning on for them, or they’re on loneparent books or pension books, so in orderfor them to go into the CS, they see it as atemporary placement, which it is, its only for6months, and they have to give up all thesebenefits in order to do that, so financiallythey don’t see it as of interest to them, sotwo people in this area were successful ingetting 6month placement in the CS whichwas facilitated through this project.”

Only one of the women had heard of the MobileInformation Unit run by the BlanchardstownCentre for the Unemployed. For operationalreasons the mobile information unit hastraditionally operated in the afternoons outsideof Parslickstown House. Paradoxically, the CEcourse is run in the mornings so the Travellerwomen were not on-site to access the service-had they so wished–because they havereturned home to look after their children.

“Is he kindamore or less like CitizensAdvice?

DIFFICULTIES DISCERNING BETWEENLABOUR MARKET PROGRAMMES AND

OPEN EMPLOYMENTVery few of the women spoken with on a groupbasis, could identify types of jobs that generallyappealed to them. It was also clear that themajority of women had difficulty differentiatingbetween various job roles. This factor may beattributable to the fact that as teenagersgrowing up they may never have had anopportunity to take up a part-time job. Also theymay never have seen both or either of theirparents going out in the morning to a 9 to 5 job.

One Traveller speaking to the other:

“But you see when they found out you wereon the same course some of the same girlssaid that they got jobs which actually wasn’ta job.”

“You knowwith CE… group you get nearlythe one forms to go to the dole office andget it signed, you know this type of stuff.You see, what happens with CE you have tobe a lone parent, you have to be living aloneor you have to be a widow or whatever,anyhow before CE and I think they areprobably mixing the two forms becausewith CE you have to be alone with yourhusband has actually get to sign it for to getthe job or to get the training course.”

As previously indicated, the labour marketparticipation rate of Travellers is very low. In theabsence of exposure to an office job in theservices sector or as a computer technician, onehas to think abstractly about what a particularjob might entail. It should be pointed out thatmany of the Traveller women actually view CEas a job.

“Travellers don’t view training programmesas training programmes, they view them as

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employment. So it’s acceptable if it isgenerating an income for the family and in alot of cases that’s what it is.”

“Yes I agree that the Travellers view CE as anactual job but it’s not just CE It is training oranything that they receive a payment for.Once they receivemoney they consider it asa job. They do see that they can progress onfrom it and the options are stated to thembut a lot of the women don’t.”Want to workfull time due to childcare they want to bethere when the children come home fromschool or to collect them from school.

PREPARATION FOR WORKMore surprisingly though, when openlyprompted, no-one could indicate that they hadever attended an interview in their lives.However, a couple of the women had beenemployed in community crèches and alsocompleted their NCVA training. Neither wasworking as a childcare worker at present. Forone woman who had worked in a crèche for acouple of years, the combination of lookingafter other people’s children and her own,become too much in the end. On the other handthe other participant, who was younger, hasdecided after working away in a local crèche fora short period that this is not her chosen careerpath. Somehow she felt she did not quite ‘fit in’.

In addition none of women on CE had registeredwith the Local Employment Services inParslickstown House. This situation has changedas several of the women have met and spokenwith the LES mediator in Parslickstown House.This was only at the behest of the CE ProjectSupervisor. One female Traveller is still a clientof the LES in Parslickstown House.

LACK OF EXPOSURE TO JOBSIN THE 9 TO 5WORLD

None of the Traveller women had completedtransition year in the secondary school cycle.This means that they missed out on exposureto a work environment as teenagers outside ofthe family unit. As a consequence someTraveller women had a narrower knowledge ofcareer options. Having raised their own childrenor baby-sat for their wider family members theyinstinctively felt comfortable in similar jobroles.

“Travellers need assistance and help andcounselling to find the best route for them.They do not come to us with a definitiveview of where they want to go because oftheir lack of experience in jobs. In fact wefind this often.

“People are not able to differentiatebetween a YouthWorker and a CanteenWorker and that was only the other day, sotheir understanding of jobs out in settledsociety can be confusing.”

“They would be very low-skilled, commonacross the board would be literacy problems.It’s manual work that the are interested in.The only thing they know about is safe passor forklift licence skills, they are just twothings that you can achieve to get you ontothe site or the factory as such. Some of theyoung Traveller men that I would have triedto engage with, its very hard for them toimagine doing a course or somethingbroader than going onto a site.”

FEAR AND SUSPICION OF AUTHORITYFIGURES

It was relayed by several people that Travellers arefearful and suspicious of authority figures. Tryingto gain their trust takes time. I encountered thisas a researcher sitting down with one of theTraveller women.

“If you were I’d say it to your face and letyou knowwhat you’re doing to us… .”

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POVERTY TRAPS LINKED TO SOCIALWELFARE PAYMENTS

Breaking the cycle of undue reliance on socialwelfare is a barrier that some members of theTraveller community face. The longer theindividual is receiving social welfare paymentsthe more difficult it becomes to support thatindividual into a job in the open labour market.Encouraging some male Travellers to foregosocial welfare payments is made all the moredifficult as some have large families who theyreceive benefit on behalf of.

“I do find that the welfare to work issues arethe same for all our clients, but theirunderstandingmight be slightly different.Everyone faces the same difficulties, …theonly thing withmale Travellers is for thepeople who have a large number of children,that is a difficulty, there are a few peopleleft in our society that tend to have 8 or 9children, some of themale Travellers, …eachtime we look at what he is getting on thesocial welfare and what type of job he willbe going for it is aminimumwage jobbecause he had no work experience, it is verydifficult for him to weigh up, how does thiswork? Even the idea of going on a back towork allowance, it’s quite fearful tomoveaway from social welfare dependency, thatis quite understandable if you had 8 childdependents.”

“Theparticipants and their husbands andfamilies have all beenon the socialwelfaresystem for years and they trust it. It’sguaranteedmoneyand there are secondarybenefits suchas themedical card, fuelallowance, back to school allowance etc”

RISK AVERSEClosely linked to the social welfare dependencyissue is the finding that many Travellers appearto be very risk averse. Trying to change mindsetsand take a chance with a job is something thatrequires patience and imaginative approaches.

“Also if we domanage to try and convincethe women then they go home and say it totheir husbands and they won’t agree with itand won’t take the risk and then that is theend of that conversation. This is an ongoingbattle that is going to take a long time toresolve and it will entail working with themen and building up trust and trying toconvince them that there are other avenuesapart from the social welfare system.”

“We constantly try tomotivate people andencourage them towards employment andfuture financial gains and we discuss careeroptions and deliver a course preparation forwork.”

BAD MEMORIES OF SCHOOL / POORLITERACY SKILLS

Some Traveller men and women relayedunpleasant memories of school in former years.This appeared to been more of a factor forslightly older Travellers. This negative experiencemay have led some Travellers to leave schoolearly. At the back of some Travellers minds wasthe belief that education would not make anydifference because at the end it they wouldn’tget a job anyhow.

“Left out when you were young in school.”

“Schools of old-Travellers went to Traveller-only schools-didn’t work, kids notinterested. They played football and theteacher was not interested either.

It was recognised that things are changing inthe school system at the present moment.However the belief was that this wasattributable to other ethnic minorities forcingthe system to change and not the schoolsystem adapting itself to the needs ofTravellers.

“That’s not happening anymore becauseyou’ve got all these other nationalitiescoming in.”

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POOR ACCOMMODATION ANDLIVING CONDITIONS

The self-image of Traveller women may be verylow and it takes considerable time and effort tobuild up their confidence levels while onCommunity Employment. There was a level ofembarrassment that could perhaps beattributed to their being illiterate or lower, andthus not having the confidence to take up a job.However, part of it is also attributable to theliving conditions of many Traveller women.

“Every case is different and usually itdepends on the site they are coming fromand the living conditions and facilities andlack of resources play amajor factor in this.Also their personal circumstances andsupport systems play amajor role. Forexample, if you have a woman from a sitewith a lack of facilities, outdoor toilets andissues around hygiene and a lack of supportin general, her self esteem is going to belower than a womenwho has a goodsupport system and ok living conditions.Also the women take on the responsibilityfor childcare so if this is not working toowell then they are stressed out as well. Lateron down the line they get used to theroutine and organising themselves and buildup a trusting relationship and we offer thewomen personal support so this all helps toimprove their self esteem and for thewomenwho have low literacy throughoutthe year as their literacy improves so doestheir self esteem.”

LOW CONFIDENCE LEVELSAND SELF-ESTEEM

Several interviewees commented on low self-esteem as being a barrier to employment forTravellers. Poor accommodation and livingconditions was reported to be factor interlinkedwith self esteem.

“Themajority of Travellers that I knowof thatlive in small communities this kindaenvironment. As a group they have greatconfidence but as individuals their confidenceis totally different and that is a result of livingin this close family network, their family can

back themup, butwhen you go out intosettled society they are a little bit lost.”

Several reports make reference to reportedinstances of low self-esteem within the Travellercommunity.

Murphy (1998, p28) notes that ‘for some of thesurvey group, the discouragement of long-termunemployment has led to depression and lowself-esteem’.

Weafer (2001, p31) also makes separate referenceto ‘instances of low self-esteem were apparentwhen Traveller parents spoke about their ownexperiences in school and also in relation to theirchildren’s education’.

DISCRIMINATIONProfessionals working alongside Travellers fromseveral organisations pointed out that someTravellers face discrimination from employersin accessing the labour market.

“I think it’s the two sides to it, I do know thatthey face discrimination from employers, Iwould have had numerous occasions wherethey would come back from having been outjob seeking on the building sites, and theywould say as soon as they know I’m aTraveller they wont even let me place a footon the site. I’ve also spoken to one or twoemployers and not in a very outright orsimple way, they would imply that havedifficulty with employing Travellers.”

SERVICE PROVIDERS’ INFLEXIBILITY –REFUSING TO ADAPT

There is a great reluctance on the part of therelevant stakeholders to address the issue ofworking with male Travellers. Women are moreopen to someone working on areas such as self-esteem, and self-awareness in society as a whole.

“We have the Higher Level Agency Group,FÁS, HSE, and Social Welfare and they havemoney to spend and they don’t have thewillingness to undertake this role or they

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will not accept our ideas as being the wayforward. There is this gap, they sit there onthe one hand with this power andmoneyand on the other hand we have theexperience and the ideas. There is anunwillingness for either group to take onthis role and that needs to be sorted out.”

ESTABLISHED WORK PRACTICESLES mediators have recognised that existingwork practices need re-adjustment whensupporting the Traveller community.

“We’ve nothing togoon, because it’s notworking, its just notworking, how it is at themoment, its not happeningand itwillprobably take another couple of years to buildit back up to that level, thatwhatever Brianhadhere andwasable to dowas soproactive.”

One non-LES contributor went further andexpressed reservations about the voluntarynature of the LES ethos.

TIME KEEPING ISSUESFor cultural reasons, Traveller men and womenappear to have had difficulty engaging with theLES services at set times of the year. Somemembers of the Traveller community exercisetheir choice to pursue a nomadic lifestyle,especially over the summer and early autumn.However, this appears to make it all the morefrustrating for mediators whose responsibilityit is to offer mediation and support services forclients of the Local Employment Services. Evenmore worrying, perhaps, is the finding thatsome Traveller men have refused to re-engagewith the service after training courses havebeen organised between FÁS and the LES withtheir approval. This has resulted in a financialloss for the LES. In addition, it appears thatsome Traveller men have refused to take up joboffers that have been negotiated by the LESmediator despite having originally expressed adesire to take up such positions.

“I would have had a lot of cases withTraveller men who requested particulartraining, would have put them through allthe process, got the funding and then theydid not turn up for the training, despite usringing 24/7, taking every precaution. Sothere is a reliability issue there for thatsituation, so inmy practice asmediator, Iwould go to further lengths.”

“I had one person before Christmas that hada job set up, talked to the employer, this siteover here and a number of sites acrossBlanchardstown, talked to the employer,and he toldme he hadmet this individual,interviewed him, toldme to get hisScaffolding licence. He’d worked in this areabefore and yourman had the job ready forhim nextMonday. The lad never did histraining. We organised it twice for him, set itup for him, FÁS and ourselves worked closelytogether inmonitoring him, he disappeared.It was a very good opportunity, theemployer was taking him up in arms” needthis lad, and I’m happy to take him on”

PATRIARCHAL FAMILY STRUCTUREIt appears that there are restrictions thatTraveller women in particular have to overcomebefore being able to even think about taking upemployment. This can be related back to culturalpatterns that exist within the Travellercommunity at present. The family unit is whereTravellers seek solace and re-assurance. Withinthe traditional Traveller family unit each memberhas certain duties to fulfil.

“The reality is either of the parents or bothwouldn’t let their daughter mix inmainstream training or employment. Sothey ended up being referred back to socialwelfare.”

“You have the perception not just amongmen but also women that the place forwomen is in the home, they shouldn’t bedoing that. Now that is changing slowly butother jobsmixing with settled people arenot acceptable in some cases.”

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“There is amajority of Travellers out therewho believe a women’s place is in the home.It’s womenwho negotiate children’seducation so it is themwho end up having togo to the school. It is womenwho go to thelocal authority accessing accommodationso it is womenwho are faced with theobstacle of being toldmove on.”

“We’ve a group of womenwho aren’tallowed to come down to training courseson their own. We’ve another group of peoplewhose parents won‘t let themwork at all,ever, because of whatever familyenvironment they live in. We’ve anothergroup of people who don’t have the skills,educationally and academically. We’veanother group of people who socially havenot had any experience of a workingenvironment, working withmainstreamsettled society. They’re not presentable forjobs, and we have another group who don’thave basic reading and writing.”

SKILLS EROSIONSeveral reports highlight that skills erosion hasoccurred within the Traveller community due tophenomena such as migration, modernisationand industrialisation starting in the 1960s.

“The reality for Travellers is, they lived in asociety prior to the 1970s where they had avaluable contribution to both the culturaland economic activity of this country. It’s analmost reverse of that now, where they arealienated and ostracised in communitiesand even in areas where they no longer hadthe traditional crafts of tinsmithing orploughmaking or whatever else they wereengaged in, pre 70s.”

CULTURAL PREFERENCESFinally, it may be that in some instancesTravellers do not want to mix with settledpersons on courses or in employment. As oneTraveller woman stated to me:

“They’ve got their culture andwe’ve got ours.”

To identify and documentTravellers views and experiencesin connection with long-term

unemployment.

FEMALE PERSPECTIVE

DISCRIMINATION / INSTITUTIONAL RACISMOne of the female participants recalled howupon returning to Ireland she had experienceddiscrimination at her local Social Welfare Officewhen she registered. This interaction had left alasting impression on her and thrown into sharprelief the barriers some Travellers face in findinga job. Ironically, she was able to find employmentin the UK because in the eyes of Britishemployers she was just perceived as being Irish.

“You are just Irish.” It’s not till I came backhere that I experienced discrimination.”

“I worked in England, right, and I worked infactories here and there and everywhere andI got themno problem, right, butwhen I cameback here, right, I tried to get a job but Icouldn’t get one and I have to go to the SocialWelfare to getme dole. Butwhen I went in tothem to get interviewed… they askedmewasI an itinerant, is that the word?

Several women were also able to point to thefact that their address was used to identifythem as Travellers and how this acted as abarrier to employment.

“I think themain issue there is what it wouldbe because they are a Traveller because ofaddress, as soon as they heard an address,they automatically know a Traveller site,that’s it, you know that kinda way.”

However, it is important to emphasise that themajority of the Traveller women in their ownwords, never experienced discrimination in theirlives. This finding came through discussions onseveral separate occasions.

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One woman did comment that she only gotangry when all Travellers were labelled thesame. Through interacting with settled peoplein particular situations, such as on a trainingcourse, a couple of the women discovered howsimilar obstacles affected both settled peopleand Travellers alike e.g. poor literacy.

MALE PERSPECTIVEOne middle-aged male Traveller who hadrecently re-engaged with the LocalEmployment Services outlined how he had helddown a couple of temporary, part-time jobs inhis working life. He suggested that it was a lotharder for Travellers now, as people neededlicences for lots of jobs, and spoke of how thedole was inadequate and that some weregetting by doing odd jobs.

“Guys are tree-topping.”

“Dole inadequate.”

There was also recognition that skills Travellershad in the past were no longer in demand today.

“Make buckets, scrapping cans but thenplastics came along and kinda did awaywitha lot of the skills Travellers had at that time.

He was of the belief that:

“Travellers are all tarnished with the onebrush and it was twice as difficult being aTraveller and trying to find work.”

On the question of education, he outlined howin school his teacher just left the Travellers toplay football amongst among themselves.According to him, deep down they all knew that

“Weweren’t going to get a job education.”

His younger brother, who he had brought alongto the LES, is beginning the process of enteringemployment. He indicated that as a Traveller

the attitude of employers he’d experiencedthus far was:

‘“Not trusted” and “Don’t ringme I’ll ringyou.”’

This constant rejection and stigmatisationsimply due to the fact that one is a Traveller isreportedly having wider repercussions withinthe Traveller community. It was also reportedthat lack of both opportunities and confidence,coupled with the loss of traditional Travellerskills, was also affecting older Travellers inparticular.

“It’s cruel… burning away inside…”

On a more positive note, he also outlined howhis brother had been working as a lorry driverfor several years but had been forced to hide hisTraveller identity for a long time. His boss, whoknew he was a Traveller, stood up for him onone occasion when his colleagues – a group ofsettled men-began to discuss Travellers in anegative light. Eventually he broke the news tohis fellow employees that he was a Traveller.Since then he was accepted. Interestingly, healso shared his thoughts how:

“Travellers need help. Need someone to givethem a help to put them in the rightdirection.”

This very rich data demonstrates some of thechallenges confronting Travellers in enteringemployment but also re-enforces the need foragencies to be supportive of Traveller men inparticular on an ‘outreach basis’.

We shall now examine the lack of targetedinitiatives for male Travellers.

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To examine why previous plannedinitiatives and actions never ‘took

off’ or succeeded.

TO EXAMINE THE LACK OF TARGETEDINITIATIVES FOR MALE TRAVELLERS.

a) In January 2002, Blanchardstown LEScontracted the services of Forklift andSafety Training Services Ltd to run a coursefor male Travellers from Blanchardstown.The course was run in Finglas and sevenTravellers received certificates. The coursecontent covered subject matters such as:

7 Reach Truck7 Counter Balance7 Power Pallet Track7 Manual Handling7 Workplace Health and Safety

An LES mediator co-ordinated the course. Indoing so, he:

7 Consulted with Travellers to see whetherthere was a demand for such a course.

7 Negotiated with training providersregarding course fees.

7 Sourced funding to pay for the course.7 Made follow-up visits to halting sites.7 Recruited the course participants.7 Drove participants to the course.7 Provided aftercare to course participants.

Comments of the Traveller men who attendedthe course as part of a follow- up evaluation

“Found it all very useful.”

“People did the best for us.”

“Good of Brian to get it done for us” “Hedoes his best.”

“People are getting a licence-but it’s anotherthing getting a job from it.”

“Length of the course was just right, if youcouldn’t learn in that time you never would.”

The efforts of the mediator thoughcommendable, could not be sustained in thelonger term. Due to existing work practiceswithin the LES, this individual was alsoproviding mediation support to other targetgroups. Several months later the mediator tookup a new post leaving a gap in provision.

b) In 2003, the Partnerships Enterprise Officerestablished a steering group involvingseveral agencies. This group commissionedan independent piece of research entitled:

‘A study to examine the appropriate means ofsupporting the traveller economy in Blanchardstown’(Russell, C., 2004).

Unfortunately, the reports recommendationswere never implemented, which left the 20research participants feeling disappointed anddejected. Subsequent engagement with maleTravellers was made all the more difficult afterthis initiative never materialised. Ironically, theproposed enterprise model for Traveller mendeveloped through Russell’s research is nowbeing implemented in Ballymun. This particularproject will be explored further on. It is worthreflecting on the valuable lessons that emergedfrom Russell’s research, which could serve topoint to gaps in service provision not presentlybeing met.

Russell notes that ‘during the case studyprocess the importance of outreach andadvocacy became patently clear. Theemployment of an Outreach / Support workerto work with traveller men (funded under theEqual Programme) by the BlanchardstownTraveller Development Group proved anincredible asset to the endeavours of the

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steering committee and the five traveller men.Having an Outreach worker firstly to informthem of what is available, secondly toencourage them to take up the supports onoffer and thirdly to act as an advocate for themwhen they do access such service is seen to bea crucial first step’. (2004, p.30)

Russell also indicates how ‘not one of theTraveller men interviewed was in a position toidentify a support agency that they wouldapproach about setting up a business and howthe participants were also reticent aboutapproaching any agency they perceive to bepart of the settled establishment out of fearabout being investigated by Social Welfare’.

When traditional economic activities wereexplored the majority of men though unawareof the specifics of the relevant legislation, wereaware of the subsequent impact it had on themand their families.

The idea of training was anathema to youngTraveller men but fathers were eager to seetheir sons take up some form of apprenticeshipand saw the value of them staying in school.

c) Finally, in December 2006, BlanchardstownArea Partnership allocated funding from theLDSIP to the Blanchardstown TravellerDevelopment Group. This contributionhelped the BTDG contribute towards thecosts of training 14 Traveller men, whowereattending amini bus and scaffolding course.

7

LESSONS LEARNTThe lack of an outreach support worker ispreventing [the] long term progression ofTravellers into open or self employment.

The stop-start nature of projects can becounterproductive.

Outcomes are enhanced when several agenciesare involved in designing courses for Travellermen.

Engaging with Traveller men has proven moredifficult than anticipated at the outset.

Gaining the trust of Traveller men requires agreater time commitment than with manyother target groups of the Local DevelopmentSocial Inclusion Programme.

A lot of follow-up activity is required with theclient if the momentum and goodwill createdis not to dissipate.

Traveller men are reluctant to attend anypersonal development or job seekingprogrammes.

The amount of one-on-one LES mediationsupport required to progress Travellers intomainstream employment or further educationand training requires a greater commitment offinancial and human resources than with othertarget groups.

The onus of responsibility for engagingproactively with Traveller men rests with anumber of bodies and cannot be the preserveof one agency.

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To examine approaches tosupporting Travellers in otherareas from an employment,self-employment and training

perspective.

Community organisations, Area BasedPartnership companies, local authorities andgovernment departments were contacted tohelp determine best practice and to gatherrelevant information that could be shared withthe steering group.

The following is a summation of the maininitiatives that provide valuable learning in thecontext of this report.

a) Supporting Employment and EnterpriseDevelopment among Traveller Men- St.Margaret’s Traveller Community, Ballymun.

In 2005, the National College of Ireland wascontracted by Ballymun Regeneration todevelop employment and enterpriseopportunities for men at St. Margaret’sTraveller Community.

The Nurture Programme actually follows themodel developed from the research conductedby Russell, contracted by the BlanchardstownArea Partnership in 2003/2004.

The Nurture Programme organised a drivertheory test training programme. This was inresponse to the men’s stated interests. Men wereencouraged to set themselves up at a PC withself-directed driver theory training software.

A support worker was on hand to assist the menwith queries. In order to make the training asaccessible as possible the local CDP centre on-site was opened on designated evenings.

Some of the keys to success of this programmecentre on the presence of a male facilitator /support development worker who engagesdirectly with Traveller men on an outreachbasis. Starting where the Traveller men are atand a flexible / informal approach.

b) Tallaght LES / PARTAS

A model of good practice had been developedjointly by the Traveller Community DevelopmentProject and the Tallaght LES. This is informed by anequality paradigm that tries to ensure equality ofaccess, participation and outcome for its clients.In doing so, clear written policies have beendeveloped. The Traveller Community are engagedin the decision making process at all times.

The Tallaght Local Employment Service hasemployed a mediator / outreach worker toengage with the Traveller community forseveral years.

A painting and decorating course was run inconjunction with PARTAS for 12 youngTravellers as well as an English For TravellerEnterprise programme. This initial pilotprogramme ran for 26 weeks from BrookfieldEnterprise Centre. Modules were specificallydevised so that they could be delivered usingvideo and role plays to get across keyinformation. Literacy inputs were run threemornings per week and the sessions on theother two. Each participant’s literacy skills wasassessed and they were helped to identity theirown business ideas.

c) Pathways to Employment for Travellers inSouth Dublin County Council.

This training employment programme consistedof a programme for General Operatives andClerical Officers. A comprehensive evaluationreport was completed and updated in March 2007.

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The reports conclusions point to the followingas key lessons:

7 Leadership within the Council7 Good management7 Existence of a ‘champion’7 Selection process is important7 Ability of the Council to offer full-time jobs

at the end if the eventual outcome oftraining was deemed a success

PROGRAMME FOR GENERAL OPERATIVESThis programme sought to recruit and traingeneral operatives to work in the ParksDepartment. The project lasted for 6 months.Over this period participants trained 3 days aweek with FÁS and for 2 days with the Council’sParks Department. Diversity training wasprovided to employees within the ParksDepartment.

The recruitment of men between 17-19 yearsof age to the programme was a crucialcomponent.

7 Informal interviews were held to establishinterest and capabilities

7 Participants in the first 6 months wereoffered full pay at the entry level grade forGeneral Operatives

7 Everyone was promised a job if the trainingthat was FETAC accredited was completed.

PROGRAMME FOR CLERICAL OFFICERSThis programme involved hiring people withgood literacy and computer skills, who mayhave had work experience, to work ontemporary contracts or gain work experience.

In a follow up evaluation of the Pathways toEmployment programme by HibernianConsulting7, the author recommends that:

7 agencies need to commit to an inter-agency

process and that a work participationprotocol should be devised.

7 the importance of outreach as a tool forcontacting the wider Traveller community isvital if Travellers are to be recruited.

Specific personnel and resources are allocatedto target employers.

d) EQUAL Initiatives8

CLAREThe training of Traveller Enterprise Workerswith the appropriate skills, attributes andenergy was acknowledged as the most criticalfeature of this pilot initiative in County Clare.

An incentive grant to encourage and supportemployers to employ Travellers in the first yearof employment – €8,000 was made available.

Employers’ were also granted a PRSI exemptionfor two years.

Travellers were able to avail of grant aid-toassist in the cost of insurance and advertising.

The importance of on-going mentoring andsupport–upskilling, business plans was key.

Employment of two Traveller Support Workersto work with two second level schools was aunique feature of the pilot peer-led mentoringprogramme.

CORKThe working relationship between the FÁSDevelopment Officer and the Co-ordinator ofSpecial Initiatives for Travellers was central.Between them, they targeted Travellers, madecontact with employers, explored businessideas and offered ongoing support.

7. Hibernian Consulting (2007) Opening Pathways to Employment for members of the Travelling Community in South Dublin Council, EQUAL AT WORK,A Dublin Employment Pact Initiative.

8. EQUAL (2000-2007) is a Community Initiative promoted by the European Commission. It is part of a strategy to ensure the European Social Fund reflectsthe labour market policy objectives of the European Union Employment Strategy. EQUAL funding is allocated across is thematic areas includingentrepreneurship, adaptability, employability and equal opportunities.

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The Mail shot approach to contacting Travellersdid not work. Far more successful was thetraditional means of contacting Travellers viaoutreach and networking.

Travellers needed to be constantly cajoled,encouraged, and motivated to take upopportunities. An individual approach wasnecessary.

The Traveller Development Worker collectedTravellers from their homes and brought themto interviews or courses on occasions.

Funding for training opportunities, child careexpenses, and taxis to and from interviewswere also covered.

Site visits to a recycling centre in England tookplace.

Traveller men were helped to sit a Farrier’sexam, and a forklift driver course. Several menwere given support to prepare a business plan-Vardo.

GALWAYA Traveller Advocacy Worker is employed by theGalway City Partnership. This person providesmentoring and support to Travellers in order toassist their career path to training, education,work experience and employment.

FÁS established a 6-week long pre-apprenticeshiptraining programme which linked in with the VECto help identify young Traveller men.

The programme was divided as follows: 4 daystraining –1 day with the employer.

A training programme in construction andlandscaping skills was developed.

A Supervisor co-ordinated the project, whichinvolved the renovation of premises for theHSE.

DUBLIN – TRAVACTThe Traveller Enterprise and EmploymentProgramme was implemented.

A business consultant was hired who operatedout of a local community centre.

A community sensitive business model waspursued.

Mentoring and support were essential. Aconsultant worked on a step-by-step basis.

There was a huge amount of misinformationaround running a business, entitlement andgrants, which needed to be addressed.

The Pilot employed a research assistant whohappened to be from the Traveller community.He acted as a conduit between the pilot and theTraveller community.

Ideas came from the Traveller themselves.

Travellers were challenged to develop therequired skills within the ‘real world’ and weresupported in making them make a ‘culturalshift’ to ensure their business ideas worked.

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To examine if there are any‘attitudinal barriers’ among

employers to hiring members ofthe Travelling community.

(Postal Survey)

BACKGROUND146 employers’, who are all members of theGreater Blanchardstown Chamber of Commerce,were surveyed. 22 questionnaires were returned,which corresponds to a 15% response rate. As aresult, it cannot be claimed that the overallfindings are representative of Chambermembers drawn across the Dublin 15 area.However, the response rate was far higheramong larger employers, especially thoseemploying more than 200 employees. As suchgreater weighting can be attributed to the viewsof larger employers.

Finding 1: 62% of employers surveyed indicatedthat they would hire a Traveller. 15% indicatedthey would not, and 23% were undecided.

“If they had the necessary qualifications andexperience and came out top of theinterview process I would employ [them].”

“Depends onposition / candidate‘s suitability.”

“I would employ what I consider themostsuitable candidate for the job based oninterview… and CV.”

“If they had the qualifications and trainingtheir status as a Traveller is irrelevant.”

Finding 2: 24% of employers suggested thatthey would have some misgivings about hiringa Traveller, with up to 33% of those surveyedundecided.

“Wemay have concerns as to how thepeople in the community would work withtraveller employees if they are not from thesame target group themselves. Issues with

interaction, reliability, work ethic, etc butthese exist withmany non-Travellers also.”

Finding 3: 68% of employers indicated thatemployees would have no problem workingalongside Travellers.

“Presently we have settled Travellersworking in our crèche.”

“Equality is strongly stressed and part of anethos, however one needs to try to know.”

“Provided they adapt to our workingpractice, then no problem.”

“Wewould not tolerate inappropriatetreatment in any case.”

Finding 4: 60% of employers thought thatTravellers may require additional on-sitetraining. This is an interesting finding becauseonly 19% of employers have actually employeda member of the Travelling community. Thiscould suggest that this is based on personalperceptions and not actual first handexperience of working alongside a Traveller.

“Depending on howmuch training theyalready have.”

“Depending on experience.”

Finding 5: 67% of employers suggested thatthey never had a Traveller looking for a job orapplying for an advertised post.

“Do not know of any.”

Finding 6: 19% of employers have actuallyemployed a member of the Travelling community.48% were unsure.

“Firstly through CE schemes and theyprogressed from CE and are now employedby the centre.”

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Finding 7: 57% of all employers had previouslyheard about the Blanchardstown TravellerDevelopment Group.

CONCLUSIONSOf the employers who indicated that they hademployed members of the Travellingcommunity, 50% were small enterprises (0-10employees) and 50% multinational companies.

No employers in the 11-50 or 51-200 rangecould indicate that they had hired Travellers.This finding appears to suggest that workneeds to be undertaken to persuade moreemployers to hire Travellers. A local initiativesupported by the Employers Group mightfacilitate this task.

A short public relations exercise may need tobe undertaken to raise the profile of the

Blanchardstown Traveller Development Groupas 43% of all employers surveyed had neverpreviously heard about its existence.62% of employers surveyed indicated that theywould hire a Traveller with a 25% undecided.This suggests that there is an opportunity toplace or progress more Travellers into localemployment as the majority of employers areopen to the possibility of employing Travellers.Were a skills audit of Travellers who are clientsof the BTDG, BAP and the LES undertaken itmight help match individuals with possiblevacancies.

60% of employers thought that Travellers mayrequire additional on-site training, which maybe a feature that discouraged them fromrecruiting potential employees from theTraveller community.

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PART IVConclusions

According to Pearn and Kandola(2002, p48)“Travellers cannot adequately and fairlyparticipate withinmainstream labourmarket programmes without reasonableaccommodation of their particular needsand culture at each step in the cycle ofprogramme planning provision. Gaps arealso evident at the end of programmes in theprogression of Travellers to their desiredoutcomes. It will be difficult tomakesignificant progress regarding theparticipation of Travellers in the labourmarket unless it is some designed body’s jobto champion this agenda.”

“The Blanchardstown Area Partnership /Local Employment Services and theBlanchardstown Traveller DevelopmentGroup in liaison with agencies affiliated tothe new Fingal Inter Agency Traveller Grouphave an opportunity to pilot new initiativesto tackle the high level of unemploymentexperienced by the Traveller community inBlanchardstown.”

The low progression rate for Traveller womenin Blanchardstown who are on active labourmarket programmes such as CommunityEmployment is generally little different fromthe overall general population. As Dugganpoints out ‘it has consistently been the lessdisadvantaged among participants that aremost likely to progress to employment’(1999).

The European Social Fund Evaluation Unit in thecontext of Community Employment recognisesthat:“The current situation where the programmewith the lowest progression and certificationlevels is the most attractive in terms ofremuneration, secondary benefits andflexibility, while the programmes whichprovide higher progression and certificationhave lower allowances and less flexibility isperverse” (ESF Evaluation Unit 1998).

There are human rights and social policy issuesthat must be addressed jointly by the settledand Traveller community before Travellers canever realistically hope to achieve equality ofaccess and participation in the labour market orestablish their own businesses.

Travellers are not a homogenous ethnic group.Various clusters or categories / social classesexist within Traveller society, which havespecific needs that do not necessarily reflectthe needs of the wider community. Someexamples of the sub-groups within the Travellercommunity are transient and settled Travellers,young and elderly Travellers, and male andfemale Travellers.

The Blanchardstown Area Partnership / LocalEmployment Services and the BlanchardstownTraveller Development Group in liaison withagencies affiliated to the new Fingal InterAgency Traveller Group have an opportunity topilot new initiatives to tackle the high level ofunemployment experienced by the Travellercommunity in Blanchardstown.

Short term interventions while well intentionedcan often be counter productive. Pilotinitiatives must be properly resourced and runover a three-year period.

SCALE OF THE CHALLENGEData from the 2006 census reveals that thereare 645 Travellers living in the GreaterBlanchardstown Area. A survey by CROSSCAREconducted in 2002 enumerated a highernumber of Travellers. It implied that there wereapproximately 196 Traveller families inBlanchardstown, which translates to about 990individual Travellers resident in Dublin 15.

82% of the Traveller working age population inthe greater Blanchardstown Area areunemployed. In the absence of specific labourmarket programmes such as CommunityEmployment the figure would be higher.

There are a very high number of youngTravellers in the greater Blanchardstown areaaged 15 or over who are now looking for theirfirst regular job in the labour market. None aresupported through Community EmploymentSchemes or are registered with the LocalEmployment Services.

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Conclusions

EARLY SCHOOL LEAVING & LOWER LEVELSOF EDUCATIONAL AND SKILL

QUALIFICATIONSGiven the high rates of early school leaving thatstill exist amongst the Traveller population inBlanchardstown, specific educational supportsare paramount in encouraging more Travellersto remain in school, especially beyond thegroup certificate stage. The educational andrecreational activities delivered by theBlanchardstown Traveller Development GroupYouth and Education support worker and herassistant are vital in this regard.

There are still many Traveller women and menin Blanchardstown who do not engage withmainstream agencies such as the AdultEducation Service of the County Dublin VEC.This highlights the on-going importance ofTraveller- specific community education classesand labour market schemes in trying to supportand encourage Traveller women into supportedand open employment.

The traditional skills that older Traveller men inparticular practiced have largely disappeareddue to mechanisation, the decline ofmanufacturing and the expansion of theservices industry.

PARTICULAR ISSUES FOR WOMENProgressive retention work policies have asignificant part to play in encouraging not onlypeople with health and medical problems butalso Travellers who have additional caringresponsibilities to gain a foothold in the labourmarket. The lack of opportunities for Travellerwomen to put into practice the skills they haveacquired after an interim carry-over period of 6months following community employment isimpeding their progression into openemployment.

Compared with women from the widerpopulation a very high percentage of Travellerwomen in Blanchardstown are engaged mainlyin ‘home duties’. This is not unique to Travellerwomen in Blanchardstown but is a culturalfeature amongst the wider Traveller communityat present.

Within the Traveller family unit, men andwomen have traditionally taken on core tasks.This cultural factor can be a deliberate choiceand as such should be respected.

Levinson and Sparkes (2006) argue that bondsbetween females of different generationsremain extremely strong, with far more linksthan breaks in the chain connecting them.

The older generation of Traveller men andwomen often have a wider influencing rolewithin the Traveller family network. ElderlyTravellers, whose life expectancy is generallyshorter than settled persons, require ‘socialcare’ at some stage in their lives. Responsibilityfor providing this care generally falls on theshoulders of Traveller women.

The Department of Social and Family Affairsproposed activation debate framework haspotentially enormous implications for singleparents within both the Traveller and settledcommunities. The proposals focus on twosubgroups of mothers, single parents andqualified adults, and sets forth the idea thattheir choice to parent full-time be limited towhen children are seven years of age.

Sweeney notes that ‘in 2004 at least 30% of allchildren on whose behalf Child DependentAllowances were paid had parents who couldnot be expected to take up work on grounds ofhaving three or more children, or because theywere on an old age or pre-retirement pension,or carers or blind payment’ (2007). This raisestwo key issues.

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CONCLUSIONS

How will such payments be exempted fromwork requirements?

How will the income adequacy needs of suchfamilies, who cannot use employment as aroute out of poverty, be met through the Irishincome supports and public services.

Murphy points out that ’overall evaluationsdemonstrate than activation approaches alonewill not suffice, that in work-benefits, flexibleemployment and wrap-around childcare areessential and that, as the UK and New Zealandexperiences demonstrate, voluntary activationpolicy achieves as much as mandatoryactivation policy’ (2008, p31).

The government’s proposals to deg-enderisewelfare payments could be a positive move inhelping more Traveller women take upemployment.

Several of the Traveller women on the BTDGtraining programmes are returning toeducation / training after an absence of severalyears from formal schooling.

Many of the research participants never had anopportunity to complete transition year as theyleft school early. This places them at a distinctdisadvantage compared to other teenagerswho completed this phase in their educationcycle. The lack of exposure to work ‘outside theTraveller family network’ has hampered theprogression rates of Travellers into openemployment.

Some of the Traveller women had a statedpreference for taking up part time jobs as thiswould enable them balance their familycommitments with a career. However, atpresent they appear reluctant to do so withoutthe support of fellow Traveller women, whichgives them a level of mutual support.

A couple of the women had a preference fortaking on jobs that involved developing thepotential of other Travellers within thecommunity itself and ‘giving something back’.

For some Traveller women, CommunityEmployment was perceived as a ‘real job’ andnot an active labour market policy as defined byeconomists. This is not unusual. Duggan claimsthat ‘there is consistent evidence to show thatmany unemployed people consider workexperience programmes as a form ofemployment rather than as a labour marketprogramme’ (1999, p10).

Many Traveller women on the CE course clearlyfound the communication and explanation ofwelfare-to-work issues confusing. For instance,knowledge about the mobile information unitoperated by the Blanchardstown Centre for theUnemployed, which advises on welfare-to-workprogrammes was almost negligible. This matterhas now been addressed.

Some of the Traveller women on CommunityEmployment who engaged in the discussiongroups had difficulty identifying jobs whichappealed to them.

A couple of the Traveller women who were onCE worked in crèches but did not decide towork in these roles as a career. For oneparticipant, the struggle of looking after herown children at home and other people’schildren during the working day was too muchto handle. A second participant who worked ina crèche felt that she did not quite ‘fit in’.

The lack of affordable childcare can sometimeslimit Traveller women’s choices in taking upemployment.

Some of the Traveller women approached andregistered with the Blanchardstown LES inParslickstown House for an initial meeting.None had re-visited the Local Employment

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CONCLUSIONS

Services several months later. This highlightsthe importance of the nature of outreach workonce again.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONSThe loss of secondary benefits in the event oftaking up employment is an issue for some ofthe women on CE. This is made all the moredifficult as some participants’ are linked to thesocial welfare payments their husbands receive.This can restrict their choice in taking upemployment.

Many local Traveller families have relied on socialwelfare payments for extended periods of time,which in some cases is now intergenerational.The challenge for LES mediators andemployment coaches in helping break thispsychological mindset is enormous. For Travellerfamily units with 6-7 children the decision toenter the workforce is even more daunting.

DISCOURAGEMENT AND LOW CONFIDENCEMany Travellers are very isolated frommainstream society in Blanchardstown,especially in sites located in The Ward andAbbotstown. (Please see ordnance survey mapin appendix)

This can have implications for some of thewomen on Community Employment whoseconfidence and self esteem did not appearsufficiently developed to enable them take upemployment upon completion of their scheme.

DISCRIMINATIONSome Travellers in Blanchardstown encounterdiscrimination when trying to access the labourmarket.

Some Travellers believe that the settledcommunity do not perceive them as theirequals. This can discourage some Travellers

from taking up employment or attendingtraining courses alongside settled people.

Many Travellers who have taken upemployment are forced to hide their Travelleridentity. This is a source of frustration for theseindividuals. In the absence of an employer whois willing to openly employ Travellers, many feelthey have no choice but to keep silent abouttheir ethnic background.

EMPLOYERS’ REQUIREMENTS AND THEIRVIEWS OF LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED JOB

SEEKERS- SURVEYAdditional work needs to be undertaken topersuade more employers to hire Travellers. Alocal initiative supported by the EmployersGroup would go some way to supporting thisendeavour.

62% of employers surveyed indicated that theywould hire a Traveller, 15% indicated theywould not whilst 23% were undecided.

A short public relations exercise may need tobe undertaken to raise the profile of theBlanchardstown Traveller Development Group(BTDG) with the support of the EmployersGroup as 43% of all employers surveyed had noprevious knowledge about the BTDG.

AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY OF SUPPORTSSERVICES – PERSONALISATION OF SERVICESThe strategic linkage between the BAP / LES andthe BTDG needs to be strengthened to supportmore Travellers into supported and openemployment. Existing structures and resourcesare not being utilised to their full potential.

Because some Travellers are very suspicious andfearful of authority figures this hasrepercussions for the existing LES model whentrying to build up a relationship of trust andrespect with the client. This is made all the

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CONCLUSIONS

more difficult when some Traveller men areeffectively forced to engage with the LES onlybecause they are NEAP clients.

Gaining access to men on Traveller sites ispresently not possible via the existing LESmodel.

A generic LES model cannot meet the needs ofall individuals who are unemployed. Thenational and local LES model needs to beadjusted when it comes to supporting theTraveller community.

Previous short-term approaches to supportingthe Traveller community in Blanchardstown viaoutreach work by a male LES mediator didmanage to draw in men to the service. Thesemen have recently re-engaged with the LES.Such alternative approaches to the standardLES procedure need to be piloted inBlanchardstown and beyond for much longertime periods.

PARTICULAR ISSUES FOR MENThe needs of Traveller men in particular havegenerally not been prioritised by the relevantagencies whose responsibility it is to progressinto employment.

Government legislation such as the CasualTrading Act and the Horses Act had a negativeimpact on Traveller employment opportunities.

Lack of a provision for the specifics of Travellerculture is impeding men from starting up theirown business.

It is unlikely that the employment levels ofTraveller men will reach parity with the widermale population due to a preference for self-employment. For cultural reasons, Traveller mengenerally decide to choose self-employmentover waged labour.

Services need to adapt services and operate onan ‘outreach basis’ to help support Travellermen in particular in building up trust andconfidence. Traveller men are far more isolatedfrom mainstream service providers thanwomen. The responsibility for approachingthese agencies often falls upon women inTraveller society.

HELPING MEN TOWARDS WORKThe absence of a worker who can take onmediation, one-to-one enterprise support andadvocacy work with male Travellers in theGreater Blanchardstown Area is a significantbarrier in establishing better relations with theTraveller community.

The Blanchardstown LES employed a mediatorseveral years back who managed to gain accessto male Travellers, register them with theservice and sign them up to courses. Thisoutreach work, whilst time consuming, did yieldpositive results. Aside from Traveller men whoare NEAP clients these individuals are the onlyones who are engaging with the LocalEmployment Service.

The potential of the Community ServicesProgramme in Blanchardstown in supportingthe Traveller community remains underutilised.

Some sporadic initiatives for Traveller men havebeen put in place but these have been shortterm in nature.

Travellers need to be supported with a ‘hands-on approach’ to help their businesses surviveand prosper.

Traveller men need to be provided with the‘soft supports and skills’ to help them sustainand in some cases legitimise their businesses.

‘Business ideas generation classes’ for ‘womenonly’ have been provided around the country.

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CONCLUSIONS

These courses were devised in response togender and equality proofing of internal actionsby Area Based Partnership Companies. Similarinitiatives for Traveller men need to be rolledout in Blanchardstown.

WELFARE TO WORK ISSUES FOR MENThe Back to Work Enterprise Allowance Schemein Ireland originally piloted back in the early1990s is the ideal mechanism through which torealise this objective. Many Traveller men,however, are finding this increasingly difficult.This is a greater challenge for some Travellermen due to their reported lower literacy levels.

Despite concerted efforts by the LES Mediatorsin Blanchardstown over the past few yearssome Traveller men and women haverepeatedly broken appointments with the

service and not attended training coursesorganised according to their wishes. There mayhave been extenuating reasons for this such asfear and mistrust. Once again this highlightsthe importance of outreach work.

IN WORK ISSUESBallymun’s Nurture Programme model isfollowing a model developed by the NurtureProgramme in 2003/2004 working withTraveller men in the Blanchardstown area.

A pivotal issue was the ability of South DublinCounty Council to offer full-time jobs toTravellers at the end of the programme if thecourse training was deemed successful.

7

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CONCLUSIONS

PART VRecommendations

“Help support Travellers towards work.”

“Help support Travellers into work.”

“Keep Travellers at work.”

Factoring in the National Economic and SocialForum report, Creating a More Inclusive LabourMarket, there are a number of specificrecommendations that agencies and governmentdepartments should implement in order to:

7 Help support Travellers towards work

7 Help support Travellers into work

7 Keep Travellers at work

7 Ensure personalisation of services

Local Recommendations

Improved integration and service deliveryamongst Blanchardstown Area Partnership /Local Employment Services, BlanchardstownTraveller Development Group and FÁS.

1. There is a clear need for improved strategiclinkage between the Partnership/ LES, and theBTDG on employment matters relating to theTraveller community in Blanchardstown. Atpresent existing resources and support staffare not being utilised to their full potential.

2. The existing Local Employment Servicemodel for engaging with Travellers needs tobe significantly modified. The appointmentof a community development worker whocan take on mediation, one-to-oneenterprise support, and advocacy work withmale Travellers needs to be urgentlyaddressed by all agencies, which offer localand regional support for Travellersattempting to mover into self- or openemployment.

3. The BTDG, BAP, LES, and individualorganisations sitting on the new FingalInter-Agency Group should undertake ajoint field visit to other projects in Dublin,which offer supports to Travellers. Themodels of best practice developed by theTallaght LES and Ballymun Partnershipamong others should be taken into accountand viewed in the field.

4. The Blanchardstown Area Partnership shouldcontinue to run flexible workshops toenable male Travellers to generate incomefrom self-employment in a mannercompliant with regulations. In reality, it maynot be possible to do this until an ‘outreachstrategy’ has been implemented and trustlevels have been adequately establishedbetween the Traveller community and anoutreach officer.

5. The potential of the Community ServicesProgramme in Blanchardstown in supportingthe Traveller community remains underutilised.The Blanchardstown Area Partnership inconjunction with the BlanchardstownTraveller Development Group should submita funding proposal to the POBAL CommunityServices Programme targeting Traveller men.

IDENTIFYING BASIC SKILLS NEEDS6. A general skills audit of Travellers who are

clients of the Local Employment Services andthe Blanchardstown Traveller DevelopmentGroup should be undertaken to help matchtheir skills with potential employers.

7. Career days should be organised jointly bythe Employment Unit of the LES and the

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Recommendations

Blanchardstown Traveller DevelopmentGroup for women on CommunityEmployment, and Women’s TrainingProgramme with the involvement of JobsClub mediators. This should occur severalmonths before women are due to finishtheir Community Employment scheme.

EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT - ENABLINGEFFECTIVE EMPLOYER INPUT

8. The Blanchardstown Employers Group needsto lobby community and private employersto take on Traveller women from BTDGtraining programmes for work experienceplacement.

Regional Recommendations

FINGAL INTER AGENCY GROUP9. Services need to adapt their services to

operate far more on an outreach basis. Thiswill contribute to restoring Travellers’ trustand confidence levels in mainstreamagencies. It will also help to break downprejudices and pre-conceived notions andencourage more Travellers to engage withmainstream services in more central venuesaround Blanchardstown in the medium tolonger term.

10. Plans for a Traveller resource centre asoutlined by Murphy (2002) should beimplemented. According to Fingal CountyCouncil ‘it is an objective of the CountyCouncil to provide such a centre (2005, p10)As an interim measure workshop provisionfor Traveller units at local enterprise centresshould be provided.

National Recommendations

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENTERPRISE, TRADEAND EMPLOYMENT / FÁS

11. Given the very high rate of unemploymentamong the Traveller community at present,the local Traveller CE scheme shouldcontinue.

12. The existing LES model for engaging withTravellers needs to be significantlymodified. This should be undertaken by theDepartment of Enterprise, Trade andEmployment / FÁS.

13. Fostering outreach work through one-to-one mentoring is critical. An ‘outreachworker’ should be appointed to help supportand encourage Traveller men and women toengage more with the LES.

14. A regional jobs coach is needed to keep incontact with Travellers in the first sixmonths of their job placements. Aspects ofthe Blanchardstown LES ‘Bridge to WorkProgramme’ could be incorporated. Centralto that programme is the high supportoffered to both the clients and employedduring and after the placement.

THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND FAMILYAFFAIRS

15.The government’s new ‘activation policy’ forsingle parents needs to be handled sensitively.As Murphy points out ‘policy needs todifferentiate between different groups oflone parents and qualified adults who mayhave different personal, employment andeducational histories’ (2008, pg 31-32).

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RECOMMENDATIONS

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, HERITAGEAND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

16. More local authorities including FingalCounty Council, should pursue thepossibility of employing Travellers similar tothe model developed by South DublinCounty Council.

17. Lack of a provision for the specifics ofTraveller culture is impeding men fromstarting up their own businesses. The designof group housing accommodation should bemore in line with the wishes of Travelleragencies as outlined by Whyte (2002).

18. Government legislation such as the HorsesAct and Casual Trading Act should bereviewed as recommended by McCarthy(1998). These have negatively impacted onTraveller employment opportunities.

19. As a prerequisite, government should givegreater consideration to equality proofinglegislation around the Traveller community.Both local and central government and localshould involve Travellers or persons whorepresent them in the design of policies andmeasures as recommended by COSSEE(2005).

THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAND SCIENCE

20. Mainstream funding should be provided forthe educational and recreational activitiesdelivered by the Blanchardstown TravellerDevelopment Group. The very high youthTraveller population in Blanchardstownmerits this if inroads are to be made inpreventing early school leaving, which inturn reduce a persons probabilities offinding employment.

21. Additional resources need to be provided tothe Visiting Teacher for Travellers inBlanchardstown to include an assistantrecruited from the Travelling Community asrecommended by Forkan (2007).

22. Intercultural training for qualified andtrainee teachers in colleges around Travellerculture should be a prerequisite asrecommended by Forkan (2007).

THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE EQUALITYAND LAW REFORM / POBAL AND COUNTY

CHILDCARE COMMITTEES23.More community crèches need to operate on a

full-time sessional basis especially inBlanchardstown considering the extraordinaryhigh level of the youth-at-risk population.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND CHILDREN24. The recommendations pertaining to

‘Traveller Health – A National Strategy2002-2005’ should be implemented in theirentirety, as outlined by Brack and Monaghan(2007).

7

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RECOMMENDATIONS

PART VIAppendices

Community Employment

Research Methodology

Map of Greater Blanchardstown

SOURCE FÁS AND INOU WEBSITESCommunity Employment is an employment andtraining programme which helps long-termunemployed people to re-enter the activeworkforce by breaking their experience ofunemployment through a return to workroutine. CE is divided into two options both ofwhich have different rules and conditions.

CE PART-TIME INTEGRATION OPTIONCE schemes provide work for an average of 19.5hours per week (or 39 hours per fortnight) forone year. Under this type of scheme extensionsof a second year may be possible, subject to theapproval of FÁS.

CE PART-TIME JOB OPTIONOn the part-time job option you can work up tothree years compared to the standard one yearavailable to other participants. The programmeassists them to enhance and develop both theirtechnical and personal skills which can then beused in the workplace.

The CE programme is sponsored by groupswishing to benefit the local community, namelyvoluntary organisations and public bodiesinvolved in not-for-profit activities.

To participate in the FÁS CommunityEmployment programme, one must: register atyour local FÁS Office; meet certain eligibilitycriteria. FÁS gives financial support in the formof Allowances and Funding to assist with theCommunity Employment programme, forexample, participant wages, supervisor grants,materials grants, and specific skills traininggrants.

The training provided through CommunityEmployment is delivered within a QualityAssurance framework. See details of recognisedFETAC Awards and qualifications which can beachieved and which lead to major awards on theNational Framework of Qualifications.

SPONSORING COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENTVoluntary organisations and public bodies maysponsor projects which are for community andpublic benefit. To facilitate the provision ofdevelopment and training for participants, FÁSencourages projects employ 15 or moreparticipants and have a full-time supervisor.

The sponsor is provided with resources toemploy jobless people as participants. Throughtheir period spent at work on a project,participants improve their chances of beingintegrated into subsequent employmentelsewhere in the local economy. The eligibilitycriteria for each of the options are outlined inParticipant Eligibility. FÁS pays a wages grant toparticipants for the full period of employment.A contribution towards full-time supervisionand material costs will be made, while grantstowards participant development – a specificskills training grant – are also provided. Detailscan be found at Allowances and Funding. As asponsor of the participants, the PRSI liabilityowing is for the occupational injuries benefitrate of 0.5%. FÁS contributes towards thesponsor’s PRSI costs of employing a supervisor(Class A rate). Income will be assessed for PAYEin the normal way.

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Community Employment

LOCAL TRAINING INITIATIVEThe Local Training Initiative programme is aproject-based training and work experienceprogramme carried out in the local communityrun by local community groups. Theprogramme allows local communities to carryout valuable and necessary projects of benefitto their communities, while at the same timetraining participants in areas related to theproject work so that they can go on to gainemployment or progress to furthertraining. Anyone who is unemployed and overthe age of 16, at any level of literacy, is Eligibleto Participate.

Currently, the Local Training Initiative issupporting many organisations engaged in a

wide range of initiatives including genealogy,environmental, heritage, tourism, theatre,sports, and coaching. Some projects aretargeted at specific groups in society, such aswomen, early school leavers, men, homelesspeople, recovering addicts, prisoners, Travellers,etc. See further information on Eligibility toSponsor a Local Training Initiative.

FÁS provides support in the form of Allowancesand Funding to assist with the Local TrainingInitiative, for example, training allowances forparticipants and grants for supervisors,materials and administration. Training on LocalTraining Initiatives is certified and leads torecognised awards on the National Frameworkof Qualifications.

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COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT

A research steering group was established tohelp guide and shape the parameters of theresearch. This structure was engaged with at allstages of the research process.

The Blanchardstown Traveller CommunityDevelopment Group had a key role inidentifying female Travellers to participate indiscussion groups and interviews. The Co-Ordinator of the Blanchardstown TravellerDevelopment Group, and a CE Supervisor actedas ‘gatekeepers’ throughout. In terms ofgaining access with male Travellers an LESMediator organised an initial face-to-facemeeting.

ETHICAL ISSUESAny primary research in the form of one-to-oneinterviews or focus groups with members ofthe Traveller Community proceeded on thebasis of their informed consent. All Travellersfrom the outset were made aware of theirentitlement to refuse to participate at anystage in the actual research process. To ensurethe research process was culturally sensitive nopostal questionnaires were distributed toTravellers to guard against possible literacydifficulties.

Phase 1 Desk Research

A COMPREHENSIVE LITERATURE REVIEWWAS UNDERTAKEN. ITS PURPOSE WAS

MULTIPLE.To inform the chosen research methodologyand help clarify the research problem.

To discover how others had researched thetopic area previously and to identify where theavailable literature was inadequate.

To devise a theoretical / analytical framework asa basis for the analysis and interpretation ofdata.

PHASE POSTAL SURVEY146 employers, who are all members of theGreater Blanchardstown Chamber of Commercewere surveyed via postal questionnaire. Theemployers were drawn from across the private,community and voluntary sectors. Thesebusinesses ranged in size from microenterprises to large multi-national corporations.The purpose was to examine if there are any‘attitudinal barriers’ among employers to hiringmembers of the Travelling community.

Phase 2 Field Work

The extensive fieldwork involved a combinationof one-to-one interviewing and focus groups.

INTERVIEWSThe former Chairperson of the BlanchardstownTraveller Development Group, who is a CommunityLinks Worker with the Blanchardstown AreaPartnership, was interviewed twice.

A former Local Employment Services Mediatorwas interviewed face-to-face.

The existing LES Mediator based in ParslickstownHouse was interviewed face-to-face.

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Research Methodology

The Co-ordinator of the BlanchardstownTraveller Development Group and a CommunityEmployment Traveller Supervisor were jointlyinterviewed face-to-face.

A FÁS Worker in Parslickstown House wasinterviewed as a was a FÁS Traveller worker fromCoolock.

A former Enterprise Officer of the BlanchardstownAreaPartnership,wasinterviewedoverthetelephone.

A telephone interview was also conducted witha Tallaght Local Employment Service Mediator.

Several more telephone conversations were heldto gather any additional information that couldbe shared with the Blanchardstown AreaPartnership.

FOCUS GROUPSThree focus groups were arranged withTraveller women in Parslickstown House. On thefirst occasion, twenty seven womenparticipated in an open discussion around somebroad but also very specific topics. This initialdiscussion informed the subsequent focusgroups. The literature review phase informedmany of the questions that were asked on theday. Hand written notes were taken by thePartnership’s Community Development Officer.

The second focus group was different in that itconsisted of eight women, almost all of whom wereon the CE scheme. In contrast this session wasaudio recorded. At the beginning the data from thefirst focus group was relayed to those present.

This exercise was carried out as a way ofreminding people what had been discussedseveral weeks earlier. More importantlyhowever, it was also used to obtain respondentvalidation of the data relayed to ensure thatthis was an accurate and valid account ofparticipants’ views and opinions.

The final focus group was very tightly defined, andonce again built upon data collated at the previousdiscussion. This was a very fruitful exercise and thewomen really opened up and shared their viewsand opinions on a range of issues.

Two face-to-face interviews were held withTraveller men, both of whom were looking tosource 9 to 5 work. There was an age gap ofalmost twenty years between both individuals,and this yielded some very insightfulinformation. Unfortunately it was only possibleto speak face-to-face with two Traveller men.Several attempts to reach Traveller men weremade via word of mouth, phone calls and letters.

There were extenuating circumstances for thislow engagement by Traveller men on thisoccasion. In 2003/2004, the BlanchardstownArea Partnership consulted with 20 maleTravellers around the most suitable means ofsupporting the Traveller Economy inBlanchardstown.9

Unfortunately, the report’s recommendationswere never implemented, and this left a senseof resentment as yet more broken promisesfrom agencies with responsibilities forsupporting the Traveller community.

Phase 4 Data Analysis

A ‘theoretical sampling’ approach was used tospeak with select members of the TravellerCommunity and to get to the nub of the‘research problem’.

The majority of the face-to-face interviews /discussion groups were audio recorded, and thedata was subsequently transcribed and analysedusing the constant comparative method (Glaser &Strauss, 1967) to establish coding categories andsub-categories. The transcripts were manuallycoded using a grounded theory approach.

9. Parslickstown Gardens Mulhuddart, St. Philomena’s Court Ballycoolin, St. Philomena’s Park. Ballycoolin St. Brigid’s Park Porterstown.42|

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

BLAKESTOWN31

TYRRELSTOWN53

THE WARD

106

MULHUDDART12

CORDUFF11 ABBOTSTOWN

305

PARK41

KNOCKMAROON30

COOLMINE55

Travellers in Greater Blanchardstown Area, Census 2006

OSI/Government of Ireland

License no. NE00002907

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PART VIIBibliography

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