Ensuring Equality of Access to Enterprise
Supports (EEATES)
Presentation by the Galway Traveller Movement
to the
‘Making it Real’ Conference
Investing in your future
Investing in your future
Funded by the Equality Mainstreaming Unit which is jointly funded by the
European Social Fund 2007-2013 and by the Equality Authority
22nd October 2013
Format of presentation
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Overview of the situation for Travellers in relation to unemployment
and access to enterprise supports
Background to the Galway Traveller Movement and its efforts to
address unemployment amongst Travellers in Galway
Rationale for the Equality mainstreaming project
Equality mainstreaming process
Summary of outcomes
Travellers in Ireland – some facts &figures
• 77% of Travellers are unemployed
(Census 2006)
Research by GTM and others has shown that the following
are some of the barriers Travellers face in starting their own
business:
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Lack of start up capital and access to finance
Lack of information around supports available
Lack of confidence
Practical training needs
Discrimination in the market
Welfare trap and fears around loss of benefits
Lack of role models in our community
For those reasons
• Many Travellers choose to work for
themselves (e.g., markets, door-to-door
work, recycling, scrap metals)
• But Government policy has impacted
negatively on opportunities in those areas
e.g.,
– Casual Trading Act (2005)
– Control of Horses Act (1996)
– EU directive on end of life of vehicles (2000)
– Trespass legislation (2001)
Other options to succeed in
employment
• Other Travellers have to hide their identity in
order to get a job…but trying to hide your
identity all day every day can have a negative
impact on your mental health
• Travellers in employment (who hide their
identity) can’t serve as role models for other
Travellers and don’t break down barriers – view
persists that Travellers don’t/wont work!
Galway Traveller Movement
 GTM - a partnership of Traveller and settled
people established in 1994.
 GTM seeks to achieve full equality for Travellers
in social, economic, political and cultural life as
well as the broader enhancement of social
justice and human rights.
GTM’s enterprise development work
 EU EQUAL project (2002)
 Work and Traveller economy identified as strategic
area of importance (2004-2006)
 Vision, strategy, structure
 Galway Recycling Co-op, First Class Insulation,
Empowering Traveller Women Entrepreneurs
 Traveller Enterprise Development Unit
 Support of external expertise
 Lack of understanding amongst enterprise agencies
First Class Insulation
Empowering Traveller Women Eentrpreneurs
Rationale for the Equality
mainstreaming project
 Barriers identified by Travellers
 Low take-up of enterprise supports, fears around
discrimination, self-esteem, finance, welfare trap, lack of
networks
 Willingness of enterprise and employment
support agencies to engage
 Timely – enterprise key to economic recovery
 Restructuring of services – opportunities for
change
Key elements of Equality Mainstreaming
Project
• Upskilling of Traveller ambassadors
• Establishment of an advisory group
• Seminar - Introduction to equality
mainstreaming
• 3 workshops with each partner
organisation
• Development and dissemination of
equality mainstreaming toolkit
Definitions
• Equality mainstreaming is the goal,
• Equality impact assessment is the
means,
• Equality competence is the capacity to
achieve the goal and implement the
means.
Workshop One – generate knowledge
and data
– Work with partners to generate knowledge
and collect data about Travellers which is
relevant to the policy and programme under
consideration.
– Collecting information about the situation,
experience and identity of Travellers is key
when testing the impact of a policy or
programme on Travellers
Examples of the types of relevant
information
• Situation – What is the situation of Travellers? For enterprise and
employment policies, this could examine their situation in terms of
their labour market situation, employment rates and education
status.
• Experience – What is the relationship between Travellers and wider
society? In enterprise and employment policies this could include
Travellers’ experiences of employment, educational/training
establishments or enterprise agencies.
• Identity – What are the values, beliefs and aspirations held by
Travellers? In relation to enterprise and employment policies, issues
of identity in relation to economic activity, family, and nomadism
could be taken into account.
Workshop Two – Equality Impact
Assessment
Partner organisations used the EIA to
assess whether an existing policy
considered the following three things:
– Whether the policy is in any way
discriminatory,
– Whether it takes account of diversity, and
– Whether it will positively impact on Travellers.
Equality Impact Assessment
An equality impact assessment involves
checking that policies are designed,
delivered and evaluated in a way that has
a positive impact on members of groups
that experience inequality.
 It can take place on an existing policy or
on a draft policy.
Equality impact assessment
 If there is a potential adverse impact on Travellers,
the following questions are then asked:
– What changes are required to eliminate
discrimination?
– Can the policy be redesigned to accommodate
diversity?
– Can the policy be redesigned to better advance
equality?
– If not, why not? What are the constraints?
Workshop Three Participation
• The partners presented to the Traveller enterprise
ambassadors the work they had undertaken on their
selected policies for the equality impact assessment, and
their proposals for changes in these policies.
The Traveller ambassadors
• ...tested the conclusions and findings of the impact
assessment
• ...considered the assumptions made in the assessment,
and
• ..made recommendations on changes that should be
considered
Project – key outcomes
 Travellers trained as Traveller ambassadors to
promote Equality Mainstreaming
 Equality mainstreaming toolkit and equality
mainstreaming guidelines developed and
disseminated
 Greater capacity in partner organisations to
implement equality mainstreaming
 Toolkit applied to other groups – NWCI
 Potential to extend to other grounds and across other
institutions
 Resource for organisations to assist in service
delivery and compliance (positive duty)
Arising from the equality mainstreaming
project
• Partners have amended ways in which
programmes are advertised, targeted and
communicated.
• Ethnic identifiers have been put in place,
and policies have been changed.
Quotes from partner organisations
• This proved so useful and practical I’m
sorry I moaned about going in the first
place! Partner organisation workshop participant
• [the workshops] were not too technical
or academic...plain speak...practical
and informative Partner organisation workshop
participant