Minister Neale Richmond TD

Episode: Minister Neale Richmond TD
Hogai speaks with Neale Richmond, Minister of State with responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance, previously the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Employment Affairs and Retail Business, and the Department of Social Protection. They discuss the challenges facing migrants and refugees in Ireland, including work permits, housing and accreditation, as well as available government supports.
Visit the Oireachteas website for the Minister's contact details.  

Open Mic is a new podcast presented by the Open Doors Initiative which explores the challenges and opportunities of the working world from the perspectives of marginalised communities. The podcast takes the form of short interview segments with individuals who will share their lived experiences and insights.

Guest Host
Introducing Hogai asefi Wardak. Born in Kabul Afghanistan in 2001, the youngest of her family, with 4 sisters and 2 brothers. A family where she could see her older sisters not getting what they wanted in their lives, not reaching their wishes and goals, because her father had never allowed or permitted, and never had an open mind for women to engage, work and participate in community, at that time in their country. 

In 2016, she graduated from high school and was enrolled in Kabul University. She started working with Zan TV, which is a specialized tv network for women. She started to host programmes dealing with Women’s empowerment, Women and sports and various social programmes. 

She also established an educational community for children, to help women and youngsters to get jobs, by joining POOHA NGO and worked with NATO. She’s still working with Zan TV on screen.

Open Doors Initiative

• ODI’s key mission is to enable equitable access to employment for marginalised people
• We create pathways to work through training, education, employment and entrepreneurship.
• Collaborative network of over 125 partner organisations
• Together we carry out training, work experience, mentoring, research and reduce barriers for people who are marginalised
• We helped nearly 74,000 people on pathways to work in five years

Visit https://opendoorsinitiative.ie for more information and follow us on social media including Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube

Transcript

Hello everyone welcome to Open Mic podcast presented by the Open Doors Initiative which explores the challenge and opportunities of the Working World from the perspectives of marginalised communities the podcast will take the form of short interview segments with individuals who will share their life experiences and insights my name is Hogai asefi Wardak hosting the Open Mic podcast the podcast will be available from the Open Doors website and from different podcast streaming providers it will be promoted online through social media and our member companies and supporting partners hello everyone welcome to another episode of Open Mic podcast from Open Doors today this is the special day and I know like uh you will know my guest it's a famous face active man and uh this is the the face that uh he worked a lot for people for refugees in Ireland Minister Neale Richmond Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment with special responsibility for employment affairs and retail business and the department of social protection welcome sir how are you I'm I'm really good thank you so much for having me on it's it's a real pleasure for me it's pleasure for us to it's proud time to us uh to have you in this part of podcast thanks a million to joining us sir uh like sir I want to ask who is Neale Richmond from where the family and the like the journey so far yeah I suppose it's it's nothing too uh too interesting I'm I'm a dad uh married with two lovely kids three and five um both at home sick today unfortunately like people kids have just gone back to school the bugs are running through all the households um I grew up in Dublin I was born in Dublin went to school here got involved in politics when I was 19 was first elected to the council in 2009 then I was elected into the Senate and then I was lucky to become a TD in 2020 and in January this year I became a minister and that's that's my professional life wow politics have been out it a while but yeah my personal life to be honest it's it's if it revolves around my family it revolves around my friends my local community very involved in sport and lots of other things and look I love politics I've been really lucky to call up my job for a long time but the reason I got involved wasn't to be a politician it was just to play a really active role in my community and I'm very lucky that I know I'm now able to do that for my job uh sir you did lots of things how it's possible and you're a dad too you know like lots of duties in time has give me your story so far yeah it's a difficult balance I won um I'm very lucky of a really supportive um wife and family and friends network very patient bunch of friends to be honest um but I always put certain things prioritize try and keep maybe a Saturday or a Sunday free to spend it with the kids get home for bedtime make sure I'm there to do the school run in the morning where possible but you know that's no different than a lot of people um depending on their jobs a lot of people have to spend considerable time away and I'm very aware that particularly a lot of your listeners will be a long way away from their families they've left them behind perhaps many years ago and they can just stay in touch via thankfully you know FaceTime or or whatever else it is so I'm under no illusions that yeah I have a busy life but I I chose it and I'm very lucky and I'm very fortunate I know that yeah that's good uh sir you mentioned the sport too so you're also part of sport and I think you're involved in the rugby am I right yeah tell me something about this yeah like I I've played rugby since I was uh 6 years old wow I'm still playing on an extremely low level for fun with my friends um I've played lots of sports I think sports brilliant especially team sports you don't need to be a professional or a superstar you just need to get out there um enjoy the company and it's a vital part of all our communities as well and I know for so many people it's such a release you know they may have a tough job or they're going through a tough situation but to be able to go play a game of football or basketball on a Wednesday evening with their friends it's so important so yeah rugby just happens to be the sport that I like the most um played loads not particularly good at any of them but I I really do enjoy it a lot great if I ask you that compare the sport with politician like which one you will choose first it's I know it's hard to answer they're really similar if yeah the best attributes to a good sports team is the exact same for a good political party or big campaign team yeah um politics is my job it's my passion sport is my release so politics does come first so you will prefer the politics yeah yeah cuz you said it's first for you yeah I think so we hear sir that you're working for refugees and immigrants uh in Ireland so I will ask you that the refugees and individuals from marginalized communities in Ireland still they are facing barriers when they are looking for a job what government planned for counter these issues and barriers well we're in a real anomaly of a time now yeah our economy is growing massively we've got effective full employment but yet there's still so many people who are facing those barriers as you say who can't get into the labour force who can't set up their own business and the one the real approach that we're using is the pathways to work strategy and that's where we want to reach into those marginalized communities be they refugees be they ethnic minorities be those with those with disabilities or those have' been left behind and we want to provide the tools and the support to allow them have those opportunities we have a long way to go I think we are making some progress but we will do a lot more and I think it's now economic so important that we achieve that it's not just a matter of doing it cause it's the right thing our economy depends on it uh sir what do you think like uh there is a opinion from uh migrants and refugees in Ireland that the government process is little bit slow and everything for migrants and refugees what do you think like is that true I think it's it's a bit of a myth certainly it has been slow but take for example work permits that's the area I look after in the department um a year ago it took um I think it was 21 weeks to process a work permit we're now doing it 9 days yeah so we are speeding that up of course we can do better we can do better particularly in terms of turnaround times for visa applications um for decisions on asylum status they are moving along but obviously we as much as we put more resources into it more pressures come in the system so this year we had far more people applying for international protection than ever before cause the average was 45,000 a year this year we 30,000 on top of that nearly 100,000 Ukrainian refugees so even though we put more um resources there and we have sped it up the challenge has got greater but that's not an excuse yeah we have to put more resources there that comes on to the government to do what we've done before but improve it and certainly um talking to colleagues there is a will to do that the resources are going in place and I think people will steadily start to see those increase improvements but I think anyone who was here um in Ireland before the pandemic yeah you know it is recognizably quicker now but it can and it will be better great in this Minister I would like to ask you one thing more that uh yeah like it's increasing the population of refugees in Ireland but like what do you think about the lack of accommodations in Ireland this is the the problem it's the problem for every sector of society for ref refugees um for young families for marginalized we we have a chronic issue with an under supply of accommodation in this country um we are building more houses this year than anytime since the 70s yeah over 30,000 will be was built last year be over 35,000 again this year we're going to bring on a lot more um modular housing particularly aimed at those in in international protection or Ukrainian refugees that's where we have to start it starts with supply and we cannot move away from outdated systems or unacceptable levels of accommodation until we um front load the amount of supply so we're going to see a massive another massive investment in housing in the budget in a couple of weeks time I've never once objected to any Housing Development I never will because we need to get that accommodation built and we also need um our migrant communities to be coming in we need more migrants coming in who are going to build the houses work in our hospitals um make our country a better place and that's why it was great that we had 40 thou over 40,000 people came to Ireland last year from outside the European Union to work just last year just last so last year one in one year last year 30,000 people from from within the European Union moved to Ireland for work 40,000 from outside the European Union moved from moved to Ireland for work then we also as I said had 30,000 international protection applications and just under 880,000 Ukrainian refugees so that's a huge amount of people who've come to Ireland on top of that more Irish people moved home last year than emigrated people want to live here this is a great country but we need to make it better better where the key as you said this is a great country like other keys is that people are coming more and more well there's a lot of great jobs have here but I think it goes back to the people Irish people are very welcoming we're a migrant people we're used to traveling I emigrated years ago half my family live abroad we're used to being the immigrants therefore when people come to Ireland we see this as a bonus as a plus we have lots of challenges in this country I I wouldn't pretend for an instance that we don't but we are consistently in the top 10 of all ratings for employment for human rights for democracy for freedom of press um for education for literacy from University all these skills um and I think we can continue to maintain that high level but it requires the investment and it requires that open mind to make sure we can welcome people back and welcome new people into the country uh you mentioned the education and qualifications like uh many migrants and refugees uh they have their own high qualifications but here in Ireland like recognizing the qualification of them is a little bit slow what do you think like what government should do to take them or to give them the jobs and different you know different kind of uh departments like technology healthcare media so this is something the government is taking really seriously because we need these people to be working we need people who are qualified nurses to be nursing we don't need them to necessarily be working as care assistants when they're qualified nurse we don't need a structural engineer to be working as a labourer when he or she could be working as the engineer it's no different than the Irish physiotherapist who goes over to Canada and has to wait 24 months before they can work in a Canadian hospital so it's on a case-by case basis and and a lot of this comes down to the awarding body so I'm constantly having meetings with say the nursing and Midwifery board or the pharmacist association to see particularly individual countries uh and university courses to see like this is where we can clearly see those qualifications are comparable to what we're used to seeing within the European Union or if we need to have a a conversion course or an examination to do that in as quickly a time as possible seen a lot of progress on that not enough it obviously has to have proficiency in English is people not basic English it's business English so someone who was a CEO of a company in Ukraine but doesn't have the level of business English to be CEO of a company in Ireland what can the government do to bridge that gap how can we get them up in a to fast track to speed so I think there was 100 teachers um hired last year by the Irish government to teach business English yeah people and that's really key but recognition of qualifications as I said it is individual it's on a case by case basis you know uh a software engineer is very different than a midwife um an orthopaedic surgeon is very different than a lorry driver but we are seeing it sped up and I know it is frustrating for people but we're putting the resources in there because we need these qualifications to be recognize we need these people to be putting their genuine skills to work not just for themselves but for our entire society and economy got it uh I'll ask uh one thing more that where is the support of government for refugees like financially uh for refugees and migrants in Ireland yeah there's there is a considerable amount of grant support there already obviously in terms of accommodation I think one Innovation that happened just in the last couple years and I would have been a big champion that is allowing people who've been here for 6 months still waiting for their decision to enter the workforce I think that's really key the sooner we can get refugees into the workforce the better the better for them the better for our economy um but equally we need to provide them with the support so some of that is better the information so not everyone's aware that we have local enterprise offices in every single County around Ireland their role is to support entrepreneurs to provide training to provide grants that's for everyone m not just Irish citizens not just for everyone for everyone refugees um migrants Irish citizens um young old those with disabilities those with that disabilities and one thing I really wanted to get across when I came here today is to make sure everyone knows if they call into their local Enterprise office and it could be in Longford or it could be in Carlow town or it could be in my own area in Dublin everyone is open to the same amount of training courses they're free you register you'll get business mentoring is free it is absolutely free you'll get business mentoring you'll also be able to apply for grant aid up to 5,000 for certain areas to get your business off the ground to get a mentor to get yourself a mentor an Irish business person who volunteers their time and say well I'll sit down with you you've got a brilliant idea for a new idea a new invention or a new service you can provide will take you through hand in-hand process and we want you not just to start your business but to grow your business yeah to move it into being an employer and that is for everyone there was question to Sir from my side uh to you that the many refugees they were successful entrepreneur in their own countries but when they are coming to Ireland and they want to build their business they are facing with barriers but you mentioned that there is lots of opportunities you know but what is the solution for these barriers beside these opportunities what do you think I think first and foremost if you had a business in the country you came from originally and you wanted to set set it back up here get down to your local Enterprise office get the business mentor to make sure you can take the business that you may have had in Afghanistan or in Nigeria or in anywhere in the world and say well how can I apply that to Ireland what do I need to do from a regulatory point of view what do I need to do from a funding point of view how can I convert my business to here and set it up that service is there that service is open to you it is not just as it free but you will be given financial support and aid to do it um and I think that's something that a lot of that is breaking down a lack of information it the resources are there they just need to be maximized great uh I will run from the refugees to the Travellers uh we had interviews with Travellers too and uh they were mentioning their barriers in their career what do you think about this like I think one of the most um it's a really sad thing when you think about we're at effect of full employment the unemployment rate in the country is 3.6% within the Travelling community it's 80% that's criminal yeah and that's something that makes me genuinely very upset but we also again we have to break that down and we have to break that down with clear information um not just to those who are called but also to employers yeah and we look at say the job plus scheme um where an employer can get a grant of 75 thousand EUR for bringing someone in that's €10,000 if you'll bring a Traveller in so there is a genuine financial motivation for an employer to actually reach out to the Travelling community I am sick of employers coming to me saying I can't find staff and then we have 80% unemployment in the Travelling community invest in the people I'm saying that consistently employers we will give you 10,000 to take an unemployed Traveller on we'll give you €10,000 and equally in the public service where the state is the employer we have reserved lists where we will hire um specifically those from the the Traveller and and Roma communities um then a lot of it then pulls back and this is where it gets a bit more general and out of my role and it goes to the general approach to the to the most marginalized community and I would argue the the Traveller and Roma Community is probably most marginalized in our society and it has been for decades historically so um there is inbuilt prejudices there that are wrong yeah they're being broken down it's a lot better say today than 10 years ago but it goes to the investment in education in public health support in allowing um Travellers to spend a lot longer in full-time education in my own constituency in my own community we have STAG the Southside Traveller Action Group and that's just populated by amazing women and it is driven by women um who've been able to fully embrace the systems and we've got graduates we've got PhD students all from the Travelling community and they're not abandoning their heritage they're proud Travellers and they are succeeding and they are role models the Travelling community to stay in education to play a full part um to maximize the opportunities it requires a huge level of state involvement and I would always put the case and it's not always the most politically popular case to make um but there is an economic reason for it is is that we owe our Travelling community a lot more in terms of investment both financially and morally and in turn if we break down that 80% unemployment rate in the Travelling community we're we dying for workers in this country that is part of the solution in getting more people into every sector um so I think that's definitely an area where a lot of the work that has happened has only happened in the recent years I I put a lot of the credit down to my colleague David Stanton the former Junior minister in Justice he took this on head on and it wasn't a popular thing to do but it was a right thing to do we're starting to see a return on it but perhaps that return isn't being realized enough by the Traveller and Roma community  got it uh s you mentioned the woman the woman that everywhere it's working you know and it's a big issue in every country so this is the time to mention the problems and uh I had some uh podcast with woman from marginalised communities and they were just mentioning their problems that when we are coming from different uh countries like there is problem about our language or the skin colour or something like discrimination so what is your opinion in this case for woman there's no place for discrimination in the workplace there's no place for discrimination in society skin colour gender language uh religion ethnicity anything like that so totally unacceptable and we strong laws against that and if anyone ever feels that they're being uh bullied in work or mistreated please go to the workplace relations commission we cannot tolerate that anywhere in society we have to stamp that out um I feel unfortunately far too many people who've come from abroad who perhaps don't have that level of awareness of what their rights are or their entitlements in Ireland reach out to not just like groups like open doors but the Migrants Rights Council and so many other really progressive good organizations who can point them in the direction to make sure that they are protected that their rights are maintained yeah um I think one thing that's really interesting and when we talk about a full workforce we created something like 880,000 jobs in in the first half of this year the vast majority people entering or returning to workplace for women and that's still somewhere where a lot has to be done and that comes down to to be honest it comes down to caring responsibility yeah cause so much of the caring be it of children or elderly relations falls on on the woman in the household I jokingly spoke to you about how that my kids are sick at home today so it was me who took the morning off cause my wife had to work till 2:00 that isn't always the common thing to do but it's that investment in childcare so last year we reduce the cost of childcare in the budget by 25% we're going to do more again because we need to make it affordable for those who want to be in the workplace be it on a part-time basis or a full-time basis that they have adequate uh affordable and flexible child care but crucially that they have that flexible workplace and we've seen a lot of changes in the last 5 years some of which you never imagined but it's making the workplace more flexible and I think that's a really great tool but to get back to the key point of your of your of your question we cannot tolerate any prejudice that's good uh people with the criminal history uh they are facing again barriers and challenge uh for employment and building their business and they are just losing their self that like is that fine for us or it will work for us to join the internships or about the insurance for the business like what do you think about this it that possible for them to to join all the internships the training absolutely we have a specific program an entrepreneurship program for um recently released prisoners you know we fundamentally believe in the rehabilitation process of um of the prison service in Ireland it's not just about punishment it's about returning people to society in a position that they don't need to fall back on a life crime that they've been trained and equipped to enter the workforce um in a in a way that they perhaps weren't in a position to when they enter prison probably at a much younger age and a much more vulnerable position no doubt lots of other things are brought up into it there is barriers of course um I fundamentally believe everyone deserves a second chance first and foremost um the main barrier that you've rightly referenced is in relation to Insurance particularly for those who want to start their own business and I know for many prisoners finding a job can be very difficult so the answer is well I'm going to use my skills to start my own business and that can be particularly in the more manual trades it can be maybe in construction or one of these professions where we're we really need  workers um but there are solutions there overall the efforts in relation to reducing the cost of insurance and improving the access we brought in legislation about three or four years ago to improve that it's made a huge difference a lot more can be done in relation to prisoners it's sometimes on a case-by case basis yeah um but I think a lot has been done there I think the message really to get out is that um if you've come out of prison there is absolutely an opportunity for you in the workforce either as a self-employed person and we will put you through the program and we will support you specifically um or indeed as an employee and I think there's a lot of really progressive large employers who see the value in that as well got it uh This Is the personal question from my side sir like uh there is a entrepreneurships there is the programs trainings but when someone especially from the like in business side when someone want to run their business you know where is the big problem the rent for a shop like the accommodation the tax is there any plan for these things for sure um absolutely in terms of accommodation it's no different from commercial accommodation to housing accommodation it's all about scale it's all about supply it's building a lot more of it and we we see it around um around our around our country put a huge amount of resources into um improving shop fronts so people can get grants to to up their shops to turn the upper floors above their shop into accommodation um to make them greener to make them more energy efficient and then we look at the the sort of the taxation that's level there is schemes whereby you can get tax relief um if you were taking over a building that needs major repairs you can offside a lot of those repairs against your tax that brings down your tax bill um if you are a new business you can look for um a waiver or a holiday in relation to commercial rates depending on which County Council you're in I know my own one council is more than happy um to to offset commercial rates for the first year of a new business that's quite common and I think that's really important just to give people that leg up um to give them the opportunity there's huge funding and opportunities particularly those who are who are interested maybe I don't want the whole building for myself but I'm interested in in a co-working space maybe two or three businesses coming together or and it must be said we haven't spoken about remote working hubs or shared spaces um yesterday I was with Inner City Enterprises brand new facility on Coleraine Street on the North side they're bringing together um startup businesses they're bringing together established businesses specifically targeted at those most marginalized specifically Target at refugees um at um young offenders at people who maybe come through addiction programs and if any anyone is in Dublin city and would like to engage they are looking for tenants they're looking to bring people in and they're it's a beautiful new facility um just beside the kings inn huge space huge opportunity that's great for there I want to see one of those in every County in Ireland and I think we're starting to move that and there's huge progress yeah this is good and for the woman in the business side like um I was just reading the article that there is some grants for the woman that they want to rent their business in Island yeah there's specific grants available through both your local Enterprise offices and then a number of NGOs who are dedicated to getting more women into business and and supporting women employers um and not to be party political my own party Fine Gael we have a we have a women's Network and I'm the liaison onto the Parliamentary party um there's lots of brilliant women in the Parliamentary party but I wanted this role I wanted this role because I don't think we have enough women in politics we don't have enough women in leadership senior positions in business and they're working and specifically with uh female Business Leaders with entrepreneurs to promote and to promote that collectivization you know and we see it through so many different organizations where there people are learning from each other they're making those contacts they're giving each other the opportunity and I think it's that that is something that we're seeing a lot more of now than we didn't see 10 or 15 years ago but I think the sky is the limit in that regard wow so here like the connections and communication is important networking is the key to business I know this isn't specifically a business podcast and I don't want to go down that tangent um but networking is key it's building those relations it's going it's taking every opportunity and that can start that can start in maybe some training events or going on to a local Chamber of Commerce or it can start to where you're it can start with where you're living or where you're working or where you want to work and I think the more people put themselves out there and say look I have an idea for business I'm going to tell everyone about it that's how you'll get your business to grow you know I want to work in this system where you need to go to every event to make sure that you're known that you're available that you lean on your network that if you happen to have done postgraduate study here in Ireland you lean on that network if you happen to to come from the come from say  originally joined the Irish Pakistan business Community you know I spoke with the Bangladeshi community on Sunday business people from all walks of life men women young old and they're great at supporting each other there was one guy he came over to Ireland in 1978 and has been here ever since and he's the first protocol for someone who goes like well you're the bridge yeah how do I establish my business here of course he'll take them for coffee and talk you through you will take me sir too I'm sure you will absolutely I'll set you up a talk after this chat thanks million sir uh as you mentioned like uh I was surfing from your social media and you're always uh walking on the streets in public area meet people entrepreneur shops like what gives you the feelings if you mention here like enjoyable for you oh of course the best the best part of being a politician is the human interaction that's why you do it you know politics isn't a career where you can uh shut yourself in a in a back office and just beaver away at a at a laptop or stand over a workbench you need to be out and about amongst your community that's that's the sort of people who are attracted in the first place the people who run for elected office generally are involved locally in community groups in sports clubs they are part of their community and being a politician it's not a job it's an extension of being involved in your community and the most rewarding thing I get to do um is meet with people talk about their concern their problem their hope and play a very tiny part in maybe helping them in so regard that's why you do it that's the return anyone who's involved gets on it and the day I'm scared to walk down the street or I'm not interested in meeting someone is that I need to get out of politics yeah so how is like the reaction of people against you oh 99% it's positive people are always happy to see you but if someone doesn't like something that I've said or maybe they just don't like me they're that they're entitled to do that is the easy way to catch you and share their barriers it's very easy to find me I'm plastered all over social media Irish politicians are extremely accessible most of us will be in our communities we're unlike other countries we we live in our communities our electoral system forces us to be part of it we're not like the UK or Washington where you'll disappear for and then yeah we we have to be part of it or else we don't get re-elected so we are accessible and I hope we continue to be that level of accessible and for everyone who wants to say something nice if there's someone who wants to say something less positive that's good you need to hear that constructive criticism you need to have that engagement pointless abuse gets you nowhere but it might be an event for someone who's going through something difficult but I really want it to continue that every political from every party in Ireland is completely accessible and I want people particularly those who maybe come from more difficult countries where they're politicians but maybe it wasn't a democracy or maybe they're very diff uh distant or it was a totalitarian regime it's not like that here your politicians are here to serve you I agree and and it's the same with every other part of society be it a police officer um a nurse in the hospital they're there to help you and for those who've come from more difficult countries I really hope to just underline that we're here to help you never be afraid to contact a politician particularly if you're only New Ireland and you're just trying to find your way around yeah uh as a last question sir your main message to those that they are coming to Asylum like to Island as Asylum Seekers or refugees like what should they do to be a successful man or woman in Island firstly you're very welcome thank you you're safe yeah and we're going to look after you as much as you need to be looked after we want you to thrive in this country and everything we can do to help you we will but the best way is to be completely open and throw yourself into everything take every opportunity that falls at your feet and make the most of it and I have no doubt that everyone who wants to be successful will be very successful thanks a million sir for coming here it was enjoyable and amazing chat to you thanks a million I'm sure those that they were listening has all the problems the questions solve from your side thanks a million sir again thank you from everyone we'll see you next episode with me bye-bye we hope you found the series helpful please follow us online at open doors work on Instagram LinkedIn and Twitter thanks a million