Ladies and gentlemen, and most particularly the graduates of the
EPIC Programme, I would, first of all, like to acknowledge the work
of Tina Roche and her colleagues in Business in the Community and
thank you for inviting me here today to participate in this
Graduation Ceremony.
I am very pleased to be here and to see so many excited people and
happy faces.
EPIC provides a very important and innovative programme which aims
to assist people from immigrant communities find employment or enter
further education. I am delighted to see so many nationalities
participate in the programme as employment is such a vital tool for
integration. The EPIC programme is a great example of government,
business and non-profit partnership.
I would like to congratulate Business in the Community on the
programme’s success. Apart from the independence and personal
fulfilment which result from being an active member of the
workforce, once people secure employment, they make new friends and
contacts and establish links of all kinds with the wider community.
Of course, securing employment is not always easy and immigrants
often face more problems than most. They are new to the Irish scene
and are at a disadvantage by virtue of that fact alone. Their
English language competences may not be quite what is needed for the
available positions and, more generally, they need help with
presenting themselves and their credentials to prospective employers
in the best possible light.
My Department has worked with Business in the Community for a number
of years on a variety of training programmes and the experience has
always been a positive one. Much has been achieved through the
delivery of these programmes.
The Government has committed significant resources to training and
up-skilling programmes to help re-integrate people into the labour
market.
It is important in these difficult times that everyone is
facilitated as far as possible to access employment to their own
benefit and that of society as a whole.
The EPIC programme satisfies pretty much all of the needs of the
target group in regard to helping them participate in the economic
life of the community.
The programme provides practical skills such as:
§ English language for employment training;
§ IT training;
§ The development of interview, life and work skills, for
example, one to one career guidance and training in social
media; and
§ Mentoring and social support to assist with issues regarding
social welfare, housing, childcare and other public services.
EPIC not only seeks to provide our new communities with the tools to
seek and find employment but - what is equally important - it
provides an introduction to the social and work environment in which
the immigrant will operate into the future.
The EPIC Programme is financed by my Department. The budget for
this year is around €460,000.
I understand that, since 2008 EPIC has facilitated over 2,500
clients from over 100 countries with a success rate of 68% of its
clients being placed, mainly in employment or further training.
I think you’ll agree that this is an impressive record and one which
shows what can be achieved with good planning, appropriate education
or training and clear focus. It is, I feel, a model of what can be
achieved if the aim is clearly identified and the process to achieve
the aim is suited to the purpose.
Given the wide diversity in the backgrounds of clients, I am sure
that the very act of participation in the Programme serves a really
useful purpose in promoting integration among persons who might not
otherwise come in contact with one another.
The success of EPIC is in large part due to the work and dedication
of those involved in providing these courses and in ensuring its
relevance to its target group.
I also wish to thank the business partners who collaborate with
Business In The Community in delivering the various elements of the
programme: IT training provided by BT; mock interviews and feedback
provided by CPL; face to face interview skills workshops provided
by Enterprise Rent-a-car; motivational peer talks and workshops by
Accenture; mentoring by KPMG; and regular additional workshops by
other companies including Workday, Indeed, An Post, Dawn Farms,
Sigmar etc on a variety of employment related topics. I commend
them all for their social responsibility.
As our economy is returning to growth over the coming years and
unemployment rates are dropping, we can expect immigration to
continue and that the integration of immigrants will be a live
issue into the future.
It is important that we accommodate and adapt to the continuing and
increasingly diverse nature of Irish society. Work on the
Integration Strategy is currently at an advanced stage. The
strategy is aimed at present and expected future conditions and
will drive integration work forward at a local and national level,
in response to the needs of a diverse Irish society.
EU funding, under the European Social Fund, has played a vital part
in the funding of EPIC down the years. There is, currently, a new
Operational Programme for the European Social Fund – the Programme
for Employability, Inclusion and Learning, PEIL 2014-2020 and I am
pleased to inform you that a call for proposals was launched last
week. This will hopefully improve employability of immigrants so
that the valuable work which has been done on the EPIC programme
can be continued with other immigrants in the future.
In conclusion, I congratulate and compliment the clients of EPIC.
By taking part you have shown your initiative and desire to
contribute to the country in which you have made your home. I wish
you well in whatever the future brings.
Thank you very much.