Seanad Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 Mar 1999

Vol. 158 No. 14

Adjournment Matters. - Employment Support Services.

Mrs. A. Doyle

I wish to put to the Minister a proposal for people with disabilities seeking employment, particularly self-employment, and how our social welfare code discriminates against them as distinct from other social welfare categories in this regard.

Legislation governing the income support system to unemployed persons provided by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs does not treat all recipients equally when it comes to encouraging persons to return to work. The present system militates against persons who have acquired a disability and who are in receipt of PRSI related allowances.

I would like to put the case on behalf of the self-start course located in Wexford. Minister of State, Deputy Mary Wallace, has spoken to this group and I hope she will be able to give some assurances in response to the case made this evening.

The self-start programme was established to provide people with disabilities with the supports and skills needed to set up their own business. The programme aims to provide these people with sufficient computer skills to access information services and manage information correctly. This programme will enable all participants to acquire an understanding of what is involved in starting up a small business and the skills needed.

This project broadens the employment possibilities for people with disabilities and gives an option of self-employment. The project will enable people with disabilities to create their own opportunities rather than accepting those which have been developed for them. Participants who complete the project will have the option of setting up their own enterprise, developing a co-operative enterprise or securing employment with the company which will utilise the IT skills they have acquired.

The objective of the project is to provide people with disabilities with the necessary support and skills needed to start a small business. This self-start programme is delivered from the Wexford Enterprise Centre, the largest enterprise centre in the country. It was established by a group of local businessmen and provides an integrated business environment where course participants can develop their own business ideas.

The State support structures available to unemployed persons should be available to people with disabilities like those on the self-start course. One of the main barriers for people with disabilities is not having equal access to employment opportunities. We may well ask why a course like the self-start course should be run if the majority of participants cannot avail of supports that help them to get back into employment, such as the back to work allowance and the area allowance. I am making a plea that these allowances be made available to people with disabilities. Not every person with a disability is on disability allowance. Not all disabilities are congenital. Many people have acquired a disability through occupational or road traffic accidents or medical conditions. This acquired disability may rule them out of performing work they did prior to the accident or illness but it should not rule them out of making a valuable contribution to their community in a new area of employment which would allow them to work within the limits of their disability.

The self-start course seeks a number of measures for those who have completed the course. They need an exemption from the present rule where necessary to allow those on the course to avail of the back to work allowance and area allowance schemes. The participants on the course are on unemployment supplement, disability benefit, unemployment benefit, disablement pension, invalidity benefit and disability allowance – a wide range of payments.

These people also need a guarantee that in the event that individuals are unable to continue on the back to work allowance or area allowance schemes, their entitlement to social welfare allowance would be restored automatically. We are talking about people who are trying to provide for themselves and to contribute to their communities following serious accident, illness or congenital disabilities. The Minister should grant the State supports concerning the back to work allowance and area allowance schemes to this group and guarantee that they can go back on their social welfare allowance in the event that they cannot continue work because of their disability. If these requests are granted the group proposes that the pilot project would become part of a course structure in its final year and that this module will link participants into a progressive structure in starting their own business or re-entering employment. The pilot project will be monitored by the area partnership, the local enterprise board or the local employment scheme under the auspices of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and other State bodies.

It is also proposed that businesses started on the pilot project will adhere to tax and company law, such as the maintaining and auditing of tax and PRSI accounts. The findings of the pilot project will be made available to the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs and other relevant Departments. Course organisers would be hopeful that the outcome of this pilot project would form the basis of similar projects for people with disabilities.

The aim of the self-start course is to provide people with disabilities with the necessary supports and skills needed to start up a small business or re-enter employment. The course started in April 1998 and will be completed in December 1999. Twelve people are taking part in the course. Professional people with the relevant knowledge, experience and qualifications in information technology and business deliver the course which comprises five main components – induction and assessment, getting started, information technology, business development skills and work seeking and work experience. The course is part funded by the EU Horizon project and the Exchequer. The Wexford course in run in conjunction with the National Training and Development Institute, a Rehab company, and is monitored by the National Rehabilitation Board and the national support structure. It is located at the Wexford Enterprise Centre – an integrated business environment.

I have given as many details as possible to the Minister of State. I support the case for a pilot project which would allow these people, on completion of their course, to re-enter the workplace, start their own businesses and have the benefit of the back to work allowance and area allowance schemes which are available to other social welfare recipients. Disability is a functional limitation which may be physical, sensory or psychological. However, the handicap only occurs when environmental or attitudinal factors prevent the person with the disability accessing employment opportunities. I trust the Minister of State's response will be in the affirmative.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy)

The primary purpose of the back to work allowance scheme is to encourage persons who are in receipt of certain income support payments, including disability allowance from the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, to return to the active labour force by providing them with a financial incentive. This scheme has proved to be highly successful, particularly in terms of motivating people who are long-term unemployed to return to work and is an integral part of the new approach being put in place to adapt the social welfare system to the changes taking place in the economy and the labour market. There is a recognition that social security systems have to change significantly to become relevant to the changing world of work and work practices and trends. This has a lot of relevance for persons with disabilities.

Such persons have always relied heavily, and almost exclusively, on the social security system for income support. However, restrictions which have been traditionally inherent in such systems have affected them when it comes to taking up employment or other opportunities. The penalty for finding or resuming work was, and still is, to a large extent, that the income support payment was withdrawn.

The Department administers a range of payments for persons who are ill and who have disabilities. Some of these disability benefits are designed to cater for persons who are only temporarily absent from the labour force due to short-term illness and for whom there is a guarantee of a return to the same job when they recover from their illness. Other schemes cater for those who have more long-term or permanent incapacities.

While there is a general rule that people who are temporarily absent from employment due to illness are not allowed to engage in work, it is recognised that support and encouragement should be provided for people with disabilities and those with long-term incapacities to become more self-reliant and less dependent on the social welfare system by facilitating them in taking up available employment and training opportunities.

Considerable progress has been made in this regard in recent years. For instance, 1000 places on the back to work allowance scheme have been designated for people with disabilities who are receiving disability allowance or blind person's pension. Participants on this scheme can retain their social welfare payments on a sliding scale for three years where they take up employment, or four years where they engage in self-employment. Participants can also keep any additional benefits, such as the medical card, rent allowances, free travel, etc. Currently 186 people are availing of this opportunity.

This measure complements employment supports available through the National Rehabilitation Board and FÁS, and is of particular importance to people with disabilities who can access the open labour market. However, it is recognised that many people with disabilities are not in a position to engage in such employment. Accordingly, additional measures are required to facilitate people with disabilities so they can engage in other forms of employment and training, such as sheltered or rehabilitative employment. In this regard, a weekly income disregard of £50 is provided in the case of the disability allowance, blind person's pension and supplementary welfare allowance schemes where the person engages in rehabilitative employment.

In addition to the above measures, recipients of disability benefit are, with the prior approval of the Department, allowed to engage in part-time work which is of a rehabilitative or thera peutic nature or in occupational training courses. Invalidity pensioners are similarly allowed to engage in occupational training courses and in rehabilitative or therapeutic work on a full-time basis.

Despite these measures, it is recognised that more needs to be done. In this regard, the potential for further enhancements to the system will continue to be examined in light of the recommendations contained in the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities. The operation of the existing back to work allowance scheme, as it applies to person with disabilities, will also be evaluated after it has been in force for a reasonable time. This evaluation will also be important in the context of deciding what further incentives are required for people with disabilities.