This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
British-Irish Council discusses social inclusion
03/03/2006
Ministers from across the British-Irish Council member administrations met at the Scottish Parliament and reiterated their commitment to helping disabled people reach their full potential.
Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm chaired the meeting on social inclusion.
The British-Irish Council reviewed work on disability, access to employment, education and training. Ministers recognised that disability can create barriers for people wishing to access employment, education or training, and pledged to continue work to overcome those challenges.
Ministers noted that strategies to assist disabled people into employment can have a major positive impact on their lives and the communities in which they live, but that they depend on effective engagement with employers
Mr Chisholm said: "We continue to learn a great deal from the exchange of information, knowledge and ideas through the British-Irish Council.
"The work reviewed today promises to have a significant influence across the administrations as they develop strategies for helping ensure that disabled people have fairer access to employment and to education and training opportunities. We have agreed to continue this exchange of information and good practice and to learn from each other's experiences."
The Scottish Executive jointly leads with the Welsh Assembly Government on the work of the Council on social inclusion.
Other Ministers attending today were:
- Seamus Brennan, TD, Minister for Social & Family Affairs, representing the Irish Government
- Anne McGuire, MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, representing the UK Government
- Huw Lewis, AM, Deputy Minister for Communities, representing the Welsh Assembly Government
- Paul Routier, Minister for Social Security, representing the States of Jersey
- Mary Lowe, Minister for the Social Security Department, representing the States of Guernsey
- the Hon Steve Roden, MHK, Minister for Health and Social Security, representing the Government of the Isle of Man
Ministers agreed that the next topic of work to be developed within the Council's Social Inclusion theme should be child poverty, with a focus on lone parents.
The British-Irish Council was established under the East-West or Strand Three element of the historic Good Friday Agreement which was concluded in 1998.
The mandate of the British-Irish Council is to promote the harmonious and mutually beneficial development of relations between the peoples of these islands. The British-Irish Council acts as a forum for exchanging information and for discussing, consulting and co-operating on matters of mutual interest within the Council's respective administrations.
The Members of the British-Irish Council are the British and Irish Governments, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly, and the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.