The following are the member organisation of ReferNet in Ireland: Bord Iascaigh Mhara - Irish Sea Fisheries Board BIM is the state agency with primary responsibility for the development of the Irish seafish and aquaculture industry. It provides a range of services including advisory, financial, technical, marketing and training supports to all sectors of the seafood industry.
Contact: John Connaughton (Tel. 353-1 2144100) Email
Connaughton@bim.ie Fáilte Ireland Fáilte Ireland is the National Tourism Development Authority. It provides strategic and practical support to develop Ireland as a tourist destination. It delivers services in the area of industry development, education and training and market development.
Contact: Seán O'Malley (Tel. 353-1 884 7816) Email:
sean.omalley@failteireland.ieFÁS - Training and Employment Authority FÁS is the statutory training and employment body in Ireland. It provides training and employment programmes; an employment/recruitment service; an advisory service for industry; and support for co-operative and community-based enterprise. The Planning and Research Department carries out research on labour market trends and skill needs, and monitors and reports on FÁS activities funded under the European Social Fund.
Contact: Jean Wrigley (Tel. 353-1 607 0538) Email:
jean.wrigley@fas.ie
Further Education and Training Awards Council - FETAC FETAC is the national awarding body for all further education and training in Ireland, with responsibility for making and promoting quality awards in further education and training; validating the quality of programmes; setting national standards; and establishing working partnerships.
Contact: Barbara Kelly (Tel. 353-1 865 9504). Email:
bkelly@fetac.ie Irish Business Employers Confederation - IBEC
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) represents and provides economic, commercial, employee relations and social affairs services to companies and organisations from all sectors of economic and commercial activity. IBEC represents members' interests to Government, state agencies, the trade unions, other national interest groups, and the general public. It is a member of the Union of Industrial and Employers Confederations of Europe - UNICE. Tony Donohoe is the Irish employers’ representative on the Governing Board of Cedefop.
Contact: Tony Donohoe (Tel. 353-1 605 1613) Email:
tony.donohoe@ibec.ie Irish Congress of Trade Unions - ICTU ICTU is the central authority for trade unions in Ireland, functioning both in Northern Ireland and in the Republic. It represents the interests of workers in respect of economic, employment, taxation and social protection issues, especially with government. Congress plays a major role, along with the other social partners, in influencing the Government's economic and social policies through direct contacts and via the National Partnership process. Congress is the sole Irish affiliate of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the representative body for trade unions at European level. The ICTU representative on ReferNet, Peter Rigney, is a former Chairman of the Governing Board of Cedefop.
Contact: Peter Rigney (Tel. 353-1 889 7750) Email:
peter.rigney@ictu.ie Irish Vocational Education Association - IVEA The IVEA is the national representative body for the 33 vocational education committees (VECs) in Ireland. VECs have statutory responsibility for the provision of a range of educational services to local communities including Adult and Community Education, second chance education, continuing education and vocational education and training. VECs also provide second level education through their 246 schools and colleges.
Contact: Pat O’Mahony (Tel. 353-1 4966033/087-2304539) Email:
p.omahony@ivea.ieLéargas Léargas is the National Agency in Ireland for the management of national and international exchange and cooperation programmes in education, youth and community work, and vocational education and training. European programmes managed by Léargas include: Comenius (schools), Grundtvig (adult and further education), Leonardo da Vinci (vocational education and training), Study Visits (for professionals in the education and vocational training fields) and Youth in Action (youth, community and voluntary work). The National Centre for Guidance in Education (
www.ncge.ie) operates under the aegis of Léargas.
Contact: Fionnuala Broughan (Tel. 353-1 873 1411) Email:
fbroughan@leargas.ie
National Qualifications Authority of Ireland - NQAI
The Authority is responsible for the development and maintenance of the Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). The NQAI was established under the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 1999. The purpose of the NFQ was set out in its 1999 legislation as being ' the development, recognition and award of qualifications in the State, based on standards of knowledge, skill or competence to be acquired by learners'. The Irish NFQ incorporates further and higher education and training awards as well as school awards.
Contact: John O'Connor (Tel. 353-1 887 1585) Email:
joconnor@nqai.ie Teagasc - Agriculture and Food Development Authority
Teagasc provides integrated research, advisory and training services for the agriculture and food industry in Ireland. It provides a full range of training courses for the agricultural sector from certificate to degree levels in training centres and colleges.
Contact: John O'Dwyer (Tel. 353-51 644400) Email:
john.odwyer@teagasc.ie Trainers Network The Trainers Network brings together trainers and learning facilitators from all sectors, public and private, specialist and mainstream, to share learning and experiences in relation to best practice, recent innovations, quality standards and continuing professional development. Network members have contributed to and participated in over 50 local, regional, national, and European networking and learning opportunities.
Contact: Nora Byrne (Tel. 353-1 462 2281) Email:
trainersnetwork@calmar.ieResearch Organisations: Economic and Social Research Institute - ESRI
The mission of the ESRI is to produce high quality research, with a core focus on Ireland's economic and social development, in order to inform policy-making and societal understanding.
Contact: Philip J. O'Connell (Tel. 353-1 863 2064) Email:
philip.oconnell@esri.ie Employment Research Centre, TCD The Employment Research Centre (ERC) comprises researchers at Trinity College Dublin with backgrounds in sociology and economics. The Centre's research is focused mainly on employment policies and practices in Ireland and Europe.
Contact: James Wickham (Tel. 353-1 896 1875) Email:
jwickham@tcd.ie
