Ethnic Monitoring - What is it?

(An extract from Tharie Times, 2014)

There are over 188 different nationalities and many different ethnic
groups living in Ireland. As such Ireland is a diverse and multi-ethnic
society. An ethnic group is a social group of people who identify with
each other based on common ancestral, cultural, social, or national
experience. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be associated
with shared culture, religion and or traditions.
It is acknowledged that people from minority ethnic backgrounds
may be at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Members of all
such groups may also experience racism and discrimination,
which in turn leads to social isolation.

These circumstances, coupled with language and cultural barriers,
may further compromise their ability to access services and indeed
their financial well-being. The introduction of the equality legislation
in Ireland provides for a human rights and equality framework and
places an obligation on service providers to ensure that they are
accessible to and accommodate and meet the needs of all potential
users. Ethnic Monitoring is one way to fulfil this obligation.
Ethnic monitoring involves collecting, storing and analysing data
relating to different ethnic groups who are using a specific service.
This information is then used to ensure that the service being
offered can reasonably accommodate the different needs of users
based on their specific needs. Data can also be used to examine
if there are target groups who are not being reached and
strategies can be put in place to address this.
Ethnic monitoring benefits the whole community as it enables the
service provider to identify trends and issues that are emerging in
relation to specific groups and enables the services to adapt and
respond to the specific needs of new and well established
minority communities.
Ethnic monitoring is key to ensuring that the target group and their
specific needs are central to the service.
However, it is vital that all stakeholders are clear as to why ethnic
monitoring is taking place. There needs to be a definitive policy in
place. Training and support must be given to staff to ensure that
they are comfortable with introducing such a data collection
system. The client must also be assured that they are
anonymised within the process whereby information is used only
to improve their experience and ensure a better service for all.
A reporting mechanism that anonymises the data and makes it
available for use in reports would need to be defined. Part of this
work should include baseline work on the presence of different
ethnic groups in the catchment area so there is a mechanism to
measure trends against this baseline.
Ethnic monitoring can help ensure greater equality and inclusion
in both services and society as a whole.