Employee of the Year Job Shadows Minister

Congratulations to Austin Lynch who recently won the IASE (Irish Association of Supported Employment) Employee of the Year Award.  Austin is supported by STEP and City Gate, a Saint John of God community service, which supports people with mild intellectual disabilities. 

Austin, who shadowed Minister Burton, works as a general assistant with a major supermarket and he recently won the National Employee of the Year at the Irish Association of Supported Employment Best Practice Awards. Austin has worked in this role for 10 years is noted for being consistently helpful to his colleagues, customers and management. Minister Burton said: "I am delighted to be participating in National Job Shadow Day. Today, hundreds of people with disabilities throughout Ireland will have the opportunity to shadow a workplace employee as they go through a normal working day in hundreds of employment locations across the country. It gives me great pleasure to be a part of this truly worthwhile initiative and to welcome Austin to work with me in Leinster House today."

The Job Shadow Initiative, which is organised by the Irish Association of Supported Employment (IASE) gives people with disabilities the opportunity to Job Shadow in a job of their interest and gain a greater understanding of what is involved in that particular area of work. They also learn about the skills required and employers' expectations from employees in the work place.