My Department provides a range of grants and supports to assist both jobseekers with disabilities and employers (in the private sector) to take appropriate measures to enable either a potential employee or existing employee with disabilities to obtain or retain employment. These include the:
- Disability Awareness Support Scheme (DASS)
- Reasonable Accommodation Fund (RAF), which encompasses the following:
- Employee Retention Grant
- Workplace Equipment / Adaptation Grant
- Personal Reader Grant
- Job Interview Interpreter Grant
(These schemes transferred from FÁS into the Department in 2012).
The Disability Awareness Support Scheme (DASS) provides funding so that private sector employers can fund Disability Awareness Training for their employees. The purpose of the training is to deliver clear and accurate information about disability and to address questions that employers and employees may have. It is intended the training will cover, for example, general and specific information on disabilities, perceptual awareness and disability etiquette.
It is important to note that the DASS is a demand-led scheme and that funding is provided by the Department in response to the number of applications received.
Table 1: DASS – number of companies/employers and funding provided:
Year
|
Number of Companies / Employers
|
Disability Awareness Support Scheme funding provided
|
2012
|
1
|
€2,430
|
2013
|
1
|
€834
|
2014
|
3
|
€3,760
|
2015
|
5
|
€12,964
|
2016
|
2
|
€9,270
|
2017
|
11
|
€62,275
|
2018
|
5
|
€20,214
|
2019*
|
1
|
€1,418
|
*Up to April 2019