Connect Ireland – Refugee Employment Support Programme

By project SIRM

Published on 11 February 2025

Ireland

About this good practice

Problem Addressed:
The Connect Ireland programme design was designed on an understanding that new refugees in Ireland often suffer from lack of confidence and motivation as a result of time spent under the conditions of ‘Direct Provision’ system arrangements for asylum seekers which severely limit their personal autonomy.

How Objectives are reached:
The Connect Ireland programme developed by NLN (National Learning Network) in partnership with the Irish Refugee Council (IRC), built on existing programmes run by NLN for people with disabilities. The pilot programme employed, a tailored assessment/brokerage/advocacy approach to assist people to avail of existing training and support services to progress to education and/or employment. Each participant was assigned a ‘broker’ and invited to participate in a series of individual meetings with their broker over a period of twelve weeks.

A person-centred model is at the core of the programme, after an initial engagement, participants worked with brokers on a personalised assessment of skills, barriers to employment, and an individualised progression plan to help access existing services and community supports such as training, education, health, housing and supported employment, based on needs. The original programme has been continued by IRC with cohort meetings, private & public industry meeting events and elements of refugee training moving online.

Stakeholders: National Learning Network (Rehab Group) & Irish Refugee Council.

Resources needed

The pilot programme (12 weeks) supported 20 clients, 5 in each of four NLN training centres across Ireland. In each centre one broker was deployed for one day each week to support these clients, trained by employment officer IRC with some travel & evaluation costs. Approx cost roll out €60k.

Evidence of success

Although no state funding was provided, since 2016 NLN and IRC run abridged versions of Connect Ireland. To improve efficiency, online elements added and solid collaborations developed with marquee Irish public & private employers to match job seekers with roles.
2023 IRCs employment programme impact: 354 people enrolled for upskilling, 148 for the employment supports programme, 98 completed, 27 progressed to sustainable employment, 50 secured internships. 9 employer partnerships secured.

Potential for learning or transfer

The Irish Refugee Council has identified that living for prolonged periods under the ‘Direct Provision’ system is very damaging for refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland. Enforced dependency and isolation from mainstream society not only deprives people of the opportunity to develop their use of the English language but also results in a loss of confidence.

There is learning for similar programmes for refugees across Europe when seeking to support transition to employment for new entrants into an economy. Communication and collaboration is key, when the programme is run in a coordinated manner this can help to provide regular opportunities for members of the broker team (across locations) to exchange information and insight from their work with the programme. Furthermore, this allows brokers to pool information gathered and work with marquee public and private employers to match job seekers with available roles and build up a shared repository of information and contacts.