The Government is committed to ensuring that the needs and aspirations of people with disabilities, their families, carers and advocates are comprehensively addressed and has placed their needs as a key issue on the agenda of every Department and public body.
It is generally recognised that employment and training offer important routes for people with disabilities to achieve economic and social independence. That is why the Government has arranged for the transfer of responsibility for employment and vocational training of people with disabilities from the Department of Health and Children to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Employment and vocational training policies for people with disabilities are now dealt with as part of general labour market policy and have, as a priority, clear progression routes from sheltered work, supported work and sheltered employment to employment options in the open labour market.
For its own part, my Department has been endeavouring to ensure that the social welfare system does not act as a disincentive to people with disabilities in taking up available employment and training opportunities. The system is therefore, being adapted from one of passive support to a position of facilitating people with disabilities who wish to take up available employment and training opportunities. Substantial progress has been made in recent years in relation to the supports available to people with disabilities to encourage them to become more self-reliant. One of these measures is the extension of the back-to-work allowance to claimants of disability allowance and blind person's pension. Access to this scheme was further extended to recipients of invalidity pension and unemployability supplement from September 2000. In addition, the back-to-education allowance has also been extended to all of the above categories.