Professor Michael Doherty attended the second meeting of the IFS2020 Education and Skills Liaison Forum, which has been established under IFS2020, the Government’s strategy for Ireland's Financial Services Sector.
IFS2020 places a keen focus on the education and skills requirements of the IFS sector. The Education and Skills Liaison Forum provides a forum for the IFS industry to liaise with education sector stakeholders and relevant Government Departments and Agencies, facilitating dialogue between industry, education/training providers and policy makers on emerging opportunities and challenges for the sector.
This second meeting of the IFS2020 Education and Skills Liaison Forum considered the issue of ‘Diversity as a source of competitive advantage for Ireland’s IFS sector’. The Forum examined the challenges and benefits of increasing and diversifying participation in the IFS workforce, with a focus on i) promoting IFS as an attractive career option, and ii) delivering innovative approaches to education and skills development and career progression for women, people with disabilities, unemployed people, and other groups.
Professor Doherty is Head of Maynooth University Department of Law where he lectures in modules on Employment Law and in Work and Employment in Europe on the LLB programme.
Also in attendance was Liz Grace, who is a partner in the Asset Management and Investment Funds Group of leading Irish law firm Matheson. In addition to working for Matheson, Liz helped to create and deliver, in conjunction with the Department of Law, the first-ever specialised Funds Law course available at an Irish university. The Funds Law course is offered to students on the LLM (Global Legal Studies) and the LLM (International Business Law) masters and is designed to educate graduates for accelerated entry into Ireland's growing International Financial Services Sector.