Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
2447. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding persons with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32729/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department, as well as providing income supports for people with disabilities, offers a range of employment services designed to support and assist both: people with disabilities to enter, re-enter and/or sustain employment and employers in the business community to recruit and/or retain employees with a disability in their organisation.
Employment supports for persons with a disability include:
- the Intreo service, which provides employment support services for people with disabilities who wish to engage, on a voluntary basis.
- the EmployAbility service (delivered on behalf of the department by 23 contractors located across the country) which provides a job coach and personal progression planning service for people with disabilities who are seeking to access employment in the open labour market
- the partial capacity benefit scheme, which allows people with disabilities to return to work or self-employment and continue to receive a payment from the department.
Supports for employers include:
- the wage subsidy scheme, a financial incentive (a subsidy) paid to private sector employers: in order to support / create new employment opportunities for people with disabilities in the open labour market.
- the reasonable accommodation fund, which assists employers to take appropriate measures to enable a person with a disability to enter, re-enter or sustain employment by providing a range of grants, which include the workplace equipment adaptation grant, the personal reader grant, the job interview interpreter grant and the employee retention grant.
It is recognised that the transition from education and other services to the world of work can be challenging for persons with a disability; given this the department has in place the following measures -
- The department contracts for the provision, by AHEAD, (Association for Higher Education Access and Disability) of the ‘Get Ahead’ and the ‘Willing Able Mentoring’ (WAM) programmes. These have been designed to assist graduates with disabilities to obtain employment.
- On 1 June this year I announced the funding for ‘Ability’, a new pre-activation programme for young people with disabilities. The 27 projects being funded under the programme will provide supports and assistance to more than 2,600 young people with disabilities, aged between 15 to 29 years old. The programme will promote employment prospects and meaningful social roles for young people with disabilities and in particular, young people who are distant from the labour market, using a range of person-centred supports.
- The initiative is being co-funded by the Exchequer and the EU (under the European Social Fund, as part of the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020) which demonstrates the commitment, at both a Governmental and EU level, to supporting and assisting young people with disabilities to achieve their individual employment and other goals. Initially it was expected that funding for the programme would amount to some €10 million over a three year period. However, given the quality of the proposals received, enhanced funding has been put in place of around €16 million to support the 27 projects.
In addition to the above, the department is committed to the implementation of the Comprehensive Employment Strategy (CES) for People with Disabilities (2015-2024). This strategy was developed by a combination of Government Departments, State Agencies, the National Disability Authority, Disability Stakeholders and the National Disability Strategy Implementation Group, and was adopted by Government in October 2015. The strategy is a cross-Government measure, co-ordinated by the Department of Justice and Equality, which sets out a ten-year approach to ensure that people with disabilities, who are able to, and want to work are supported and enabled to do so. Following a commitment in the CES, the ‘Make Work Pay’ (MWP) report was published in April 2017. This report was undertaken in order to better identify how people with disabilities could be supported to achieve their employment ambitions. A consultation process, with persons with disabilities, their families and representatives in relation to a number of recommendations of the report has recently being completed and I look forward to learning the outcome of the consultation process in due course. Examples of progress/improvements implemented to date resulting from the CES/MWP reports include:
- the department has progressively rolled out its full Intreo service to people with disabilities who wish to avail of the service on a voluntary basis.
- A Benefits of Work Estimator has been developed and is available on MyWelfare.ie and can be accessed through Welfare.ie.
- A fast track return to Disability Allowance (DA) process has been implemented for persons with a disability who enter employment and for some reason the particular employment opportunity does not work out.
- the extension of entitlement to a free travel pass to 5 years after commencing full-time employment (or exceeding the appropriate income threshold) has been put in place. Note this exceeds the three years recommended in the MWP report.
The department is committed to further improving its employment services for persons with a disability.
I hope that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
