Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 October 2021
80. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Social Protection the measures in place to improve employment opportunities for persons with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48645/21]
View answerThe development of services and policies to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities operates through a cross government framework with other departments, agencies and, importantly, disability sector representatives, under a number of key national strategies and action plans.
The two main national strategies in this area are the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS) and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (CES). Delivery under the CES is underpinned by three year Action Plans, as agreed by the Comprehensive Employment Strategy Implementation Group (CES-IG).
In addition, there are a number of other strategies that provide a framework for cross-departmental working and the development of services for people with disabilities. Notably, these include the Roadmap for Social Inclusion (RSI) and Pathways to Work (PtW) strategies.
My Department currently provides a wide range of both income supports and employment supports to assist both jobseekers/existing employees with disabilities, and employers seeking to hire a jobseeker (or support an existing employee) with a disability.
The Department's disability-related income schemes have been designed to support people with disabilities to enter or return to employment or self-employment, as follows:
Disability Allowance (DA) and Blind Pension (BP)
Both DA and BP are structured to support recipients to avail of opportunities to pursue their own employment ambitions, be that self-employment or insurable employment. When an individual commences employment, they can avail of an income disregard of €140 per week. In addition, a 50% taper on earnings between €140 and €350 is also applied, i.e., 50% of earnings in this band are disregarded for the purpose of the means test.
Partial Capacity Benefit (PCB)
The PCB scheme allows a person who has been in receipt of Invalidity Pension or Illness Benefit (the latter for a minimum of 26 weeks), and who may not have full capacity for work, to enter or return to employment or self-employment and continue to receive a partial or full payment. PCB has been designed so there are no restrictions / limits on earnings from employment or on the number of hours a person can work under the scheme.
The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA)
The BTWEA scheme has been designed to support persons, including persons with disabilities, to become self-employed. BTWEA has been designed so that customers who avail of it can retain a percentage of their income support payment for up to 2 years. Persons in receipt of a wide range of income supports, including disability allowance and blind pension, are eligible for the scheme.
In addition to providing income supports, DSP also provides a wide range of employment-related supports for both jobseekers / employees with disabilities and employers.
These include:
DSP's Intreo Service
The Department's Intreo service is a single point of contact for all employment and income supports in the State. Intreo provides a case-managed employment service and supports to both jobseekers and employers. Jobseekers, including jobseekers with disabilities, who seek support from their local Intreo Centre, work with a case officer with a view to agreeing a suitable personal progression plan in order to access the full range of employment supports available. Intreo also delivers a recruitment and job matching service for employers.
Local Employment Services
The Department contracts for the provision of Local Employment Services. Providers deliver a case-managed employment service for all jobseekers, including those with disabilities, who avail of the services. Jobseekers work with a LES Mediator to develop a personal progression plan in order to access the full range of employment supports available. Providers also deliver a recruitment and job matching service for employers.
Specialist Employability Services
The Department recognises the additional challenges some jobseekers with disabilities may experience in securing and maintaining employment, and so contracts for the provision of services to help address these. The Department contracts with 24 companies for the delivery of EmployAbility services in 31 locations.
Access to these service providers is through referral only: a jobseeker with a disability who is working with their Intreo Case Officer or LES Mediator may be referred to an EmployAbility service provider only if it is agreed between the case officer or mediator and the jobseeker that they would benefit from the type of services and support provided. Providers deliver a supported employment model of services for jobseekers with disabilities. Jobseekers work with a job coach who provides both pre-employment and in-employment support and assistance. Providers also deliver a recruitment and job matching service for employers.
Support for Graduate Jobseekers with Disabilities
The Department contracts AHEAD (Association for Higher Education Access and Disability) to deliver the Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) and ‘Get Ahead’ Programmes on its behalf. These programmes provide paid work experience and other supports for graduates with disabilities seeking to enter or re-enter employment. Full details are available via www.ahead.ie/disabilitysupports
Reasonable Accommodation Fund (RAF) Grants
The four grants available under the RAF are:
1. Workplace Equipment/Adaptation Grant:
Where a person with a disability has been offered employment, is in employment or is self-employed and requires a more accessible workplace or adapted equipment to do the job, s/he or the employer may be able to receive a grant towards the costs of adapting premises or equipment. A maximum grant of €6,350 is available towards the cost of adaptations to premises or equipment. Applications in excess of this sum are considered on an individual basis up to a maximum of €9,523 if specialist training for assistive technology is required.
2. Employee Retention Grant
The purpose of the Employee Retention Grant Scheme is to assist employers to retain employees who acquire a disability by providing funding to identify accommodation and/or training to enable the employee to remain in his/her current position, or to retrain the employee so that s/he can take up another position within the company.
Funding is provided in two stages:
- Stage 1 - This stage is subject to a maximum of €2,500 or 90% of eligible programme costs per employee to hire specialists to evaluate the employee’s occupational capacity and conduct a workplace or job assessment to develop an individualised written retention strategy.
- Stage 2 - This stage is subject to a maximum of €12,500 or 90% of eligible programme costs per employee to train the employee for their current position or to retrain them for another position within the company, hire a job coach to offer support to the employee and liaise with the employee’s line manager for a maximum period of 300 hours, and hire a specialist to manage the retention strategy on an ongoing basis until reintegration is complete, for a maximum period of 60 hours.
3. Job Interview Interpreter Grant
A jobseeker who is deaf, hard of hearing or has speech impairment and is attending job interviews, may apply for funding to have a sign language interpreter or other interpreter to attend interviews. A three-hour period for each interview can be funded. The amount of the grant payable is based on an hourly fee paid which may vary. A person may have several interviews arranged and can apply for funding for each. There is no limit to the number of interviews a person can attend with an interpreter.
Funding is also available to cover the cost of an interpreter to assist a person during the induction process, when he/she starts work with a private sector employer. A maximum of three hours interpreter support is available, to be utilised by the person as he/she feels is needed. Both the interview interpreter funding and in-employment interpreter support funding, for induction, can be provided. In addition, the grant can also be used to cover travel costs for the interpreter – the cost of public transport or, if not available, a set rate per kilometer is applied.
4. Personal Reader Grant
A person employed in the private sector who is (or is becoming) blind or visually impaired, and who needs assistance with job-related reading, can apply for a grant to support them to employ a personal reader. The amount of the grant payable is based on an hourly fee paid to the reader, in line with the current minimum wage, for an agreed period - for a maximum of 640 hours per year.
In addition to the above, the Department also provides two other supports specifically for employers:
1. Disability Awareness Support Scheme
The Disability Awareness Support Scheme provides funding for private sector employers to arrange and pay for disability awareness training for staff who work with a colleague with a disability. Subject to meeting the conditions that apply, in the first year that a company applies, 90% of eligible training costs are provided up to a maximum of €20,000. In the second and subsequent years, 80% of eligible training costs are provided up to a maximum of €20,000 in any one calendar year.
2. Wage Subsidy Scheme
The Wage Subsidy Scheme is targeted at private sector employers and is aimed at encouraging the employment of people with disabilities through the provision of financial incentives (a wage subsidy). The subsidy is delivered in three strands:
Strand I subsidy is a general subsidy for any productivity shortfall in excess of 20% for a person with a disability, in comparison to a colleague without a disability. An employee must work for a minimum of 21 hours per week up to a maximum of 39 subsidised hours per week. The rate of subsidy is €5.30 per hour and the amount of the subsidy is based on the number of hours worked.
Strand II subsidy is payable when an employer employs three or more people with a disability who are supported by a WSS Strand I payment. Strand II is intended to cover the additional supervisory, management and other work-based costs relating to these employees. This top-up payment is a percentage of the Strand I subsidy and is based on the overall number of employees with a disability employed under Strand I. It ranges from an additional 10% of wage subsidy for 3 to 6 employees with a disability to a maximum of 50% of wage subsidy for 23+ employees with a disability.
Strand III subsidy enables employers who employ 25 or more workers with a disability on the Wage Subsidy Scheme to be eligible for a grant of up to €30,000 per year towards the expense of employing an Employment Assistance Officer to support these employees.
Dormant Accounts Funding to Support Employment Opportunities for Carers and People with Disabilities
The Dormant Accounts Act 2001, together with the Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Act 2003 and the Dormant Accounts (Amendment) Acts 2005 to 2012, provide a framework for the administration of unclaimed accounts in credit institutions (i.e. banks, building societies and An Post) and unclaimed life assurance policies in insurance undertakings.
The legislation introduced a scheme for the disbursement of funds that are unlikely to be reclaimed, but only for the purposes of programmes or projects to assist:
- the personal and social development of persons who are economically or socially disadvantaged;
- the educational development of persons who are educationally disadvantaged;
- persons with a disability.
On 30th July, the Minister for Social Protection announced over €7.5 million in funding to support and improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Projects were selected following a competitive process organised by Pobal that evaluated applications against a number of predefined criteria. Pobal also manages the delivery process including payment and auditing.
A funding package for 45 projects nationwide is now in place and designed to support people with disabilities to improve their employment skills, advance their education or start their own business.
This is in addition to an existing measure to support carers and people with disabilities to access employment (incl. self-employment) and training/education which began in January 2021 (until mid-2022) and is currently supporting sixteen projects totalling over €2.3 million.
Any further improvements or additions to these supports can only be considered in a budgetary context and in the light of available financial resources. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
