INOU Conference: Making the Future Work
28 Sep 2010
This INOU conference, opened by Éamon Ó Cuív, TD, Minister for Social Protection, was the culmination of a European funded project on the theme of activation in the labour market. The project saw the INOU meeting with unemployed people in four locations around Ireland to explore their experiences of social welfare and employment services. Meetings were then arranged with the providers of these services to discuss the experiences of the unemployed. Today's event brought together all of this work to form the basis of a national discussion about the future of work in Ireland.
The morning's first panel discussion saw Éamon Ó Cuív TD (Minister for Social Protection), Ruairí Quinn TD (Labour spokesperson on Education and Science), Richard Bruton TD (Fine Gael spokesperson for Enterprise, Jobs and Economic Planning), Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD (Sinn Féin Spokesperson for Social Protection) and Bríd O'Brien (INOU Head of Policy and Media) focus on the topic of "Where is the work of the future and how will we ensure that unemployed people will be able to attain that work?"
The second panel discussion of the day followed a presentation by Anna Lee, Manager with the Tallaght Partnership which explored bridging the gaps between the local and the national. This panel discussed the challenges to be addressed by activation services and comprised officials from a range of Government Departments and agencies including Department of Social Protection; Department of Education and Skills; FÁS; and Enterprise Ireland.
In concluding John Stewart, Co-ordinator with the INOU noted that "it is essential that services are built around the unemployed person and that people are given access to the necessary education and training supports to secure them a good job ASAP".
A copy of the INOU Burning issues Paper on Activation can be viewed or downloaded by clicking on the picture below to the left. Also you can view the INOU presentation to the conference by clicking on the image below to the right.
