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<strong>improving</strong><br />

<strong>government</strong><br />

<strong>service</strong><br />

<strong>delivery</strong><br />

<strong>to</strong> <strong>minority</strong><br />

<strong>ethnic</strong> groups<br />

Chapter 2: Northern Ireland Research Findings 66_67<br />

Service Provision<br />

In terms of <strong>service</strong> provision <strong>to</strong> various <strong>minority</strong> communities respondents were asked <strong>to</strong> indicate how difficult<br />

or easy it was <strong>to</strong> provide <strong>service</strong>s and <strong>to</strong> see if provision differed between various groups such as longstanding<br />

<strong>minority</strong> <strong>ethnic</strong> groups and more recent migrant workers (Table 5).<br />

One respondent made a general statement indicating that the main problem was ‘language and cultural<br />

difficulties’. Another respondent highlighted that:<br />

“ Minority <strong>ethnic</strong> groups continue <strong>to</strong> highlight <strong>to</strong> public authorities the difficulties they<br />

experience in accessing <strong>service</strong>s, especially if the first language is not English.”<br />

For longstanding <strong>minority</strong> <strong>ethnic</strong> groups, <strong>service</strong> providers responded that providing <strong>service</strong>s was either quite<br />

difficult (26 people, 44%) or quite easy (20 people, 34%). However for provision for migrant workers more<br />

indicated that it was difficult <strong>to</strong> provide a <strong>service</strong>, 38 respondents in <strong>to</strong>tal (65%), with 27 respondents (46%)<br />

stating quite difficult and 11 (19%) very difficult. One respondent stated in their response that:<br />

“ The migrant population is fragmented, although many are from the same country, they<br />

are from different areas and there is no sense of community within their own nationality,<br />

as they do not know each other.”<br />

Again provision of <strong>service</strong>s for asylum seekers and refugees was also viewed as more difficult with 31<br />

respondents (53%) indicating either very or quite difficult (15 (25%) and 16 (27%) respectively). One<br />

respondent did however highlight that:<br />

“ In dealing with our organisation I would see it is quite difficult for refugees but very<br />

difficult for asylum seekers, as refugees are entitled <strong>to</strong> help from us whilst asylum<br />

seekers are not.”<br />

Service provision for Travellers was seen <strong>to</strong> be either quite difficult (19, 32%) or quite easy (21, 36%) but no<br />

specific reasons for these responses were supplied. However in one focus group some participants stated<br />

that they experienced more difficulties in providing <strong>service</strong>s <strong>to</strong> Travellers than any other group and suggested<br />

that Travellers’ demands and expectations of what could be offered were higher and were perceived by <strong>service</strong><br />

providers as unrealistic at times.<br />

Table 5: Ease of Providing Service for Minority Communities<br />

Minority Community<br />

Very<br />

Difficult<br />

Quite<br />

Difficult<br />

Quite<br />

Easy<br />

Very<br />

Easy<br />

Don’t<br />

Know<br />

Missing<br />

Longstanding <strong>minority</strong> <strong>ethnic</strong><br />

community<br />

4 26<br />

20<br />

5 3 1<br />

Migrant Workers 11 27 13 2 4 2<br />

Refugees and Asylum Seekers 15 16 9 2 11 6<br />

Travellers 6 19 21 7 4 2

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