Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2021
387. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Social Protection the schemes that currently exist in order to help adults with dyslexia; the reason such adults do not qualify for disability allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58463/21]
View answerMy Department provides a range of income and employment supports for those who are unable to work due to an illness or disability.
Income supports for people who cannot work due an illness of disability include means-tested social assistance payments like Disability Allowance and Blind Pension, and social insurance payments like Illness Benefit or Invalidity Pension
It is important to note that entitlement to these supports is not contingent on the nature of the illness or disability but on the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity for employment.
Disability Allowance (DA) is the main income support administered by this Department that is payable for people who cannot work due to a disability. In October 2021, some 154,000 people were in receipt of Disability Allowance.
DA is payable to persons aged between 16 and 66, subject to a means test, a habitual residency requirement and a medical assessment. Medical assessment is essential in order to determine medical eligibility for the scheme. To be eligible, a person must have an injury, disease or mental or physical disability that has continued, or may be expected to continue for at least one year and, as a result of this disability, the person is ‘substantially restricted’ in undertaking employment. Medical eligibility for DA is assessed on a case by case basis and is determined by its severity, and resultant effects on activities of daily living and work-related activities. Eligibility is not based solely on diagnosis or treatment but rather is assessing the person’s eligibility for the relevant scheme in accordance with the relevant statutory conditions.
In addition to income supports, my Department provides a wide range of employment supports and services to assist jobseekers/existing employees with disabilities, and also employers seeking to hire a jobseeker (or support an existing employee) with a disability.
The Department manages the State’s Public Employment Service (PES) through its nationwide network of Intreo centres and contractors delivering services on its behalf, for example, Local Employment (LES) and Employability. The employment supports and services have been designed to focus on supporting the individual jobseeker, rather than being focused on their disability, to best assist them to obtain and maintain employment.
Jobseekers, including Jobseekers with a disability, who seek support from their local Intreo office or LES centre work with a case officer/mediator with a view to agreeing a suitable personal progression plan in order to access the full range of employment supports available. These offices also deliver a recruitment and job matching service for employers.
EmployAbility is a referral only service that is designed to address the additional challenges some jobseekers with disabilities may experience in securing and maintaining employment. The Department contracts with 24 companies for the delivery of EmployAbility services in 31 locations. A jobseeker may be referred to an EmployAbility service provider if it is agreed between the jobseeker and their Intreo Case Officer/LES Mediator. 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.
The Department provides specific support for graduate jobseekers with disabilities through AHEAD (Association for Higher Education Access and Disability), a contracted service provider. They deliver the Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) and ‘Get Ahead’ Programmes on behalf of the Department that provides paid work experience and other supports for graduates with disabilities who want to enter or re-enter the job market.
Schemes and supports that are available through local Intreo centres that jobseekers/employees with disabilities or their employers may be eligible to participate in or avail of include the Rural Social Scheme, the Community Employment Scheme and the Wage Subsidy Scheme for people with disabilities and the Reasonable Accommodation Fund Grants.
The Department regularly reviews its supports and payments schemes to ensure that they continue to meet their objectives. As set out above, a comprehensive set of income and employment supports is in place for those experiencing illness and disability, based on a person’s medical condition and either their social insurance contributions or means testing.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
