Vol. 474 No. 6
106 Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health whether he intends to provide funding to support phase two of the Gandon Enterprise Limited, ten year development plan for employment for people with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3617/97]
107 Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health when decisions will be taken on the review of the Government pilot programme for the employment of people with disabilities, which was completed in 1996, in view of the need to ensure continued employment for these people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3618/97]
Limerick East): I propose to take Questions Nos. 106 and 107 together. The pilot programme for the employment of people with disabilities is overseen by an interdepartmental monitoring committee of the programme. The review of the pilot programme carried out by the monitoring committee was completed late last year. A Government decision of 28 January 1997 approved the extension of funding for people with disabilities employed under the pilot programme for the employment of people with disabilities, for a further year.
All aspects of sheltered employment, including the pilot programme for the employment of people with disabilities, are being considered by the national advisory committee on training and employment (NACTE) established by the NRB which is due to report this summer and will advise on effective models of employment. In the meantime it is not proposed to expand the pilot programme for the present.
Partnership 2000 contains a commitment to create 500 sheltered employment places for the period of the partnership. In the course of providing additional places, it is intended, through the NRB, to pilot new models of sheltered work and to develop minimum standards for all forms of of NACTE. To that end I allocated £500,000 in 1997 for work places for people with physical and sensory disability to fund innovative projects and new models for employment.
A further review of the pilot programme will be conducted by the monitoring committee later this year as part of the overall assessment of new models of employment under the NACTE initiative. A decision will then be taken on what are the most successful models of employment.
Following this and in the event of a new programme, as in the case of this pilot programme, it will be a matter for the evaluation committee of the programme to recommend which projects should be funded.
