Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 May 2012
93 Deputy Paul J. Connaughton asked the Minister for Social Protection if the wage subsidy scheme has been extended to local authorities to encourage them to employ persons with disabilities or if there are any plans to have the scheme extended to local authorities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23436/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince its introduction in September 2005, the Wage Subsidy Scheme has been available to the Private Sector only. The Public Sector was specifically excluded and I have no plans to change this determination.
The underlying objective of the scheme is to increase the numbers of persons with a disability in full-time employment and decrease disability welfare dependency by creating, as far as practicable, a level playing field for them in seeking out employment. The mechanism is the payment of a wage subsidy to the employer to compensate for the reduced productivity of the disabled worker. The subsidy is designed to provide an incentive to employers, to look more closely at the potential of people with disabilities to meet their labour force requirements.
In regard to the Public Sector, each Government Department already has an employment quota for people with disabilities which is funded out of their existing annual budget. In the Private Sector, no such employment quota system exists. In such circumstances, it would not be appropriate to extend the scheme beyond the Private Sector.
The 2005 Disability Act put in place a set of new obligations on Public Body employers and on the National Disability Authority (NDA) in relation to the employment of people with disabilities.
Employers have obligations to:
Meet the 3% employment target.
Report on an annual basis to the Monitoring Committee of their parent Department in relation to the numbers of people with disabilities in their employment and the measures that they are taking to employ people with disabilities.
The NDA have an obligation to compile an annual report from the Monitoring Committees on the employment target and present this to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. In addition, they have the power to intervene with Public Bodies in order to promote the employment of people with disabilities.
