Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 November 2016
151. Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony asked the Minister for Social Protection the money allocated to the various schemes under the reasonable accommodation fund from 2012 to date in 2016 in tabular form; the actual expenditure on this fund for the same period; the efforts made by his Department to raise awareness of this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35269/16]
View answerThe reasonable accommodation fund for the employment of people with disabilities assists employers in the private sector to take appropriate measures to enable a person with a disability/impairment to have access to employment by providing a range of grants. These grants and supports include:
- the workplace equipment and adaptation grant,
- the personal reader grant,
- the job interview interpreter grant, and
- the employee retention grant.
The reasonable accommodation fund is a demand led scheme in that expenditure arises in response to applications received. Given the small size of each of these grants, a separate estimate for each of these schemes is not set out in the revised estimates volume. The actual expenditure on this fund is set out in the table.
Awareness of this scheme is promoted through a range of channels including through the Department’s website and by means of employer engagement opportunities and job fair events. Moreover, the EmployAbility service, which is funded by the Department of Social Protection, regularly disseminates information on the reasonable accommodation fund to both people with disabilities and private sector employers. Furthermore, under the One DSP Learning initiative, introduced in 2015, a module covering Employment Supports for People with a Disability is available to Case Officers working in the Intreo service. This module covers all the DSP grants and supports available to people with a disability, thereby providing Case Officers with the appropriate knowledge to promote the scheme.
Table: Expenditure on the Reasonable Accommodation Fund for People with Disabilities
|
Year |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016* |
|
Workplace equipment and adaptation grant |
€71,176 |
€81,724 |
€61,776 |
€58,108 |
€39,903 |
|
Personal reader grant |
€27,274 |
€27,526 |
€14,499 |
€11,866 |
€14,313 |
|
Job interview interpreter grant |
€6,355 |
€2,767 |
€1,589 |
€3,950 |
€6,881 |
|
Employee retention grant |
€4,320 |
€0 |
€0 |
€0 |
€0 |
|
Total |
€109,125 |
€112,017 |
€77,864 |
€73,925 |
€61,097 |
*To date.
