Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 July 2016
225. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he has examined the service provision of the WALK PEER project in County Louth regarding the comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities; if this model of service provision could be replicated in other counties; if he will make the necessary funds available to such a project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23160/16]
View answerThe Providing Equal Employment Routes (PEER) project was one of 14 disability activation projects (DACT), in the Border, Midlands & West region, jointly funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Department of Social Protection (DSP), from the end of 2012 to April 2015. The project was delivered by the Walkinstown Association for People with an Intellectual Disability (WALK).
The objective of the DACT programme was to explore a variety of routes towards ensuring that people with disabilities were enabled to avail of progression, education and development opportunities within the world of work. Similar to many other projects with EU funding, a key criterion used when selecting projects for the programme was that appropriate learning should be capable of being independently mainstreamed into the future. Given governance issues and procurement requirements, it was never intended that the funding for these projects would continue in the long-run or that they would become ongoing service delivery organisations in their own right.
The WALK PEER programme was subsequently successful in obtaining additional funding from the HSE and a private-sector organisation, which allowed the project to continue for another year until July 2016. Following a request for further funding to my Department, it was recognised that there was a need for some short-term support to enable it to continue service provision until the end of the year.
One of the findings of the evaluation of the DACT projects is that there continues to be gaps in the nature of supports for high dependency individuals that are pre-activation in nature. My Department is collaborating with other relevant Government Departments, with a view to resolving the situation and providing a coherent approach at national level for this group of people.
Furthermore, under Action 5.1 of the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities, the National Disability Authority chairs a working group that seeks to develop an effective co-ordinated policy approach to assist individuals with disabilities, including those who require a high level of support, to obtain and retain employment having due regard to the implementation of the HSE’s New Directions policy. To this end, the working group aims to draw up an implementation plan that provides a seamless continuum of support for people with disabilities particularly with regard to the key transition points from school to education and employment. It is envisaged that the work of this group will be completed in the autumn.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
