The ‘Working with arthritis: Strategies and Solutions' program is one of 14 separate projects being funded by my Department under the Disability Activation Project (DACT) with the support of the European Social Fund. The objective of these projects, which will run until the first quarter of 2015, is to explore a variety of routes towards ensuring that people with disabilities are enabled to avail of progression, education and development opportunities within the world of work.
More than €7 million is being provided until early 2015 under the DACT to support projects throughout the Border, Midlands and West (BMW) region which address the four specific strands of the project.
The four strands of the project are
(1) Improving Access to Employment;
(2) Progression Programmes for Young People;
(3) Support for Progression and Retention of People with an Acquired Disability; and
(4) Innovative Employer Initiatives.
The ‘Working with arthritis: Strategies and Solutions' program is a Strand 3 project and aims to overcome the barriers people with arthritis face when accessing, remaining in, or returning to work. The project targets people with arthritis (Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis and Fibromyalgia) across the BMW region.
It is a condition of a project receiving funding under the European Social Fund that the participants are in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment. It is not open to the Department to amend that condition.