Speech by Mr. Michael Ahern T.D., Minister for Innovation Policy at the Lauch of the EQUAL Community Initiative Programme 2000-2007

‘From Practice to Policy: Promoting Equality in the Labour Market’

Tuesday 9th October 2007, 9:30 am

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am delighted to be here with you this morning in the Guinness Store House. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the EQUAL Managing Authority and WRC Consultants for inviting me here today to launch this EQUAL Closing Conference ‘From Practice to Policy: promoting Equality in the Labour Market’.

It is certainly an interesting title for a Conference and one that reflects how the Programme has worked. Usually, one expects to see planning operate on the basis of “from policy to practice,” which reflects the usual policy cycle of policy formulation, which is then translated into practice. However, in this case, pilot projects have taken place and the lessons that are learned from them will hopefully feed into policy and then on into mainstream national programmes. It presents a different way of formulating policy where ideas have been road-tested and there is a clear indication of the types of policies and programmes that work for the target group, in this instance those people who are furthest from the Labour Market.

Given my role as Minister for Innovation Policy I am particularly interested in this different type of thinking and ways of solving policy problems. Ireland must keep innovation at the forefront of its thinking in order to continue to be a high-performing economy. It is well accepted that an economy must continue to innovate in order to achieve the technical progress necessary to give competitive advantage. There are many areas of policy and action where we can innovate.

Innovation in labour market policy development is one of the key areas that can directly contribute to increasing Ireland’s competitiveness. If we can learn through small pilot type programmes, ways to reach those furthest from the Labour Market, we have a chance to mainstream these ideas and link back in with people who may have found themselves on the margins. The overall result should be that we increase our Labour Market pool and, in addition, have a more inclusive society by ultimately getting these people working.

The main purpose of today’s conference is to disseminate the learning from the EQUAL Community Initiative Programme. It will raise awareness of the achievements and innovations of the Programme in terms of tackling and addressing labour market inequality and discrimination, with a view to informing ongoing developments in labour market policy and practice. The conference also aims to focus on showcasing the work of EQUAL along with delivering the key messages and learning to emerge from the programme.

I am aware that over the past number of months there has been a successful strategy carried out to highlight the relevant policy and practical lessons from the EQUAL Programme.

This strategy involved national, regional and local media exposure at programme and project level and has also involved resources such as the EQUAL Website and the EQUAL Newsletter.

Today’s event is the culmination of this strategy and a number of objectives have been identified as being crucial to it’s success:

To generate public awareness of EQUAL and its achievements in tackling inequality and discrimination;

To facilitate a greater understanding amongst key mainstream policy makers and decision makers of the innovative practices, tools and processes successfully piloted by the EQUAL Programme;

To identify, group and categorise the key lessons and innovations that have emerged from activity supported under the EQUAL Programme in Ireland.

The experimental approach of EQUAL provided the opportunity to test new ways of integrating marginalised groups into the workforce, of preparing them for the world of work, and of upskilling those already in employment.

The programme has been concerned with finding innovative solutions to labour market problems, and looks, not necessarily at ‘what’ is being done, but also ‘how’ things are being done. There are broader lessons for policy making to be found in this philosophy.

While Ireland’s general employment situation continues to be robust, in spite of recent developments, there is no doubt that not everyone out there who would ultimately like to work, has equal ease of access to such a basic right as employment. The aims of the EQUAL Programme as implemented in Ireland go to the very heart of our National Employment Strategy in terms of its focus on mobilising all available sources of labour supply. Allied to this objective, the Programme stresses the importance of developing a strategic way of looking at new training methodologies and new ways to deliver learning in a manner that recognises the learner’s needs and circumstances, and also increase awareness that there is something in it for them.

The types of issues EQUAL is addressing in Ireland include:

• Promoting adaptability of workers and firms to change;

• Providing more and better investment in human capital and strategies for lifelong learning;

• Entrepreneurship for disadvantaged groups (ethnic minorities, travellers);

• The promotion of gender equality;

• Promoting the integration of, and combating discrimination against, disadvantaged groups.

Events such as today’s conference help add to our understanding and appreciation of how the EQUAL Programme and its Projects have responded to a wide range of issues associated with labour market inequality and discrimination by developing many innovative tools, practices and supports.

In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity again to thank the organisers for inviting me here today to launch this conference. I would particularly like to congratulate them, and all of the projects, on the success of the EQUAL Programme.

I hope you have an enjoyable day and I wish all who have participated and contributed to the Programme every success in the future.

Thank you.

Ends.