Older people, Travellers, people with disabilities and people from ethnic minorities remain the groups facing the greatest difficulties in accessing training and employment, a report from the Equality Authority finds.
The report, Accommodating Diversity in Labour Market Programmes, published yesterday, details the difficulties faced by these groups.
It says difficulties vary "from deep-seated prejudice in public attitudes to an ongoing failure to take appropriate and effective action at national policy level".
The report shows that long-term unemployment in the over-45 age group of unemployed is 43.4 per cent, compared with 30.7 in the 25-to-44 age group.
The labour force participation rate of people with disabilities is just 42.9 per cent, compared with 71.3 per cent in the rest of the population. Among the Traveller community, just 9 per cent are reported to be in mainstream employment, and many describe themselves as self-employed.
The employment rates among ethnic minorities are said to vary according to the level and nature of their education and professional qualifications.
The report says barriers to employment are felt particularly acutely by refugees, despite their being a group with a high level of educational attainment.
Speaking at yesterday's publication, Mr Niall Crowley, chief executive of the Equality Authority, said the report was timely in establishing an agenda that could be progressed over the next three years of the National Development Plan.
It was an agenda that was urgent, he said, and an agenda that was realisable.
For the disabled, barriers cited include negative social attitudes, which are described as of central concern to the sector, allied with "unfounded assumptions and stereotypes".
Architectural issues, physical barriers, recruitment practices and a lack of supports for both employers and the disabled are also cited.
People from ethnic minorities face barriers caused by, among other factors, lack of English-language skills, difficulties accessing English-language training and prejudice.
Travellers' low participation is attributed in the main to their low take-up of training programmes. The report notes a lack of recognition of Traveller culture in planning these programmes.
Older people face an emphasis by employers on formal qualifications in the contemporary labour market and difficulties upgrading their skills.
