Minister for Labour Affairs, Frank Fahey, today launched the second round of EQUAL funding.
The event is open to the public and was attended by prospective applicants for funding, Government departments and agencies, NGOs and representatives of the social partners.
The EQUAL Community Initiative is one of four European “Community Initiative” programmes operating in Ireland (the others being LEADER+, URBAN and INTERREG).
The aim of EQUAL is to combat discrimination and inequality in the labour market by testing new ways of approaching training, education and employment support.
Speaking at the launch Minister Fahey said: "We cannot rest on our laurels and we cannot stop at this point and neglect those who continue to have difficulty in accessing the labour market."