Tommy Coleman Senior Training Advisor, Tipperary Education and Training Board attended the Pobal Conference 2016 – Creating an Inclusive Labour Market on 9th November in the Helix, DCU, Dublin.  The national conference which brought together employment service providers from the statutory, community, local development and private sectors to discuss challenges and good practice regarding the creation of inclusive labour markets in Ireland.   The conference aimed to support greater co-ordination between community, statutory, local government and the private sector in creating a more inclusive labour market for disadvantaged groups and communities.

The conference commenced with introductions and welcome by Seamus Boland, Pobal Chairperson and Brain McCarthy, President of DCU.  The first Plenary Session:  How Inclusive is Today’s Labour Market? included   Anne Vaughan, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Social Protection, Leo Varadkar, Minister for Social Protection, Marianne Thyssen, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility

Paul O’Toole and Tommy Coleman represented the Apprenticeship sector and hosted a workshop and question and answer session to examine the value of apprenticeships and how they operate locally. Apprenticeships have been an area of reform in Ireland in recent years with the establishment of the Apprenticeship Council and the launch of new apprenticeships.