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The DIALOGUE Project with Ireland

Ireland is one of the leading countries which Slovaks travel to for work

Between 2000 and April 2011 some 42,774 Slovaks (according to PPS published statistics) went to work there. This number includes everyone who during this period found some kind of work in Ireland, whether short-term or long-term. However it does not reflect the actual number of Slovak citizens who are still working in Ireland. The PPS number is unique and is always awarded only once to each person.

Cooperation between the Irish and Slovak EURES networks has contributed greatly to the number of employed Slovak citizens in Ireland, as has organization of selection processes for Irish employers, recruitment drives in the area of education: courses in hotel and catering services, as well as advisory activities for Irish citizens in Irish FÁS offices.

In October 2008, Eures Ireland launched an initiative aimed at helping migrant workers not just from Slovakia but also from other EU and EEA states. This involved joining EURES networks from various EU/EEA countries with governmental and non-governmental organizations in Ireland in order to work with migrants and develop with them mutual cooperation. This led to the launch of the DIALOGUE project as a platform to identifying the nature of the labour markets in each of the participating countries as well as the problems of their citizens living and working in Ireland. The project’s purpose was to try to help these people deal with various problems both with living and work.

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The objectives of the project were:

to develop cooperation and understanding in areas which migrant workers in Ireland come into contact with
to identify potential and real problems and find common solutions
to help migrants working in Ireland integrate into Irish society with focus on their rights and opportunities.
to create a network of service providers including all aspects of migration.

Dialogue is a way of learning from one another and of providing mutual help:

The following organisations were participating in Dialogue:

Embassies (Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Latvia and Lithuania)
Citizens information
Department of Social Protection
Immigration Council of Ireland
Migrant Rights Centre Ireland
Crosscare Migrant Project
National Employment Rights Authority (NERA)
Social and Legal Advice Centre under the patronage of the Polish commissioner for the protection of civil rights
EPIC (Employment for People from Immigrant Communities)
SIPTU

As part of the Dialogue project, meetings were organized in order to help participants gain information from different areas and to simplify migrant workers‘ access to it.

The www.fas.ie/dialog.htm webpage contains all outputs from negotiations, useful information from the area of employment, social benefit and social security, starting a business in Ireland, job seeking in Ireland or in other countries. One of its features is a so-called “Question bank“ in which clients could send questions straight to their Eures advisors. The contact persons for the different participating countries were:

Latvia: e-mail: eures@nva.gov.lv
Lithuania: Loreta Zdaniauskiene; e-mail: Loreta.Zdaniauskiene@ldb.lt
Poland: Marta Russek; e-mail: mrussek@wup-rzeszow.pl
Slovakia: Iveta Hluchá; e-mail: iveta.hlucha@upsvar.sk
Ireland: e-mail: dialog@fas.ie

Under the auspices of FÁS – Eures Ireland and as part of the Dialogue project, a number of interesting events for migrant workers in Ireland have taken place. These include the following:

Bi – national Business Start-up workshop
Fáilte Isteach – free conversational English classes for new migrants
EPIC ‘Pre-employment & English for Work training’
European and Regional Employment & Advice Fair in Dundalk and Cork
Finding your place in the Labour Market. Poland or Ireland? (workshop for unemployed Polish jobseekers)
“Get ready“ (English language & Information workshop for Jobseekers – including “English for work“ and “Skills Assessment“, “CV & Interview preparation session“).
“Open Days For Migrants“
Irish – Polish Business Start-up Workshop etc.

All these activities were organized in conjunction with FÁS Ireland and the individual participating institutions. Current information about prepared events, news and other useful information can be found at www.fas.ie/dialog.htm.

More info: www.eures.sk

Author: Ing. Iveta Hluchá – EURES advisor, Žilina
Photo: EURES