The Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS) is an employment support to private sector employers, the objective of which is to encourage employers to employ people with disabilities and thereby increase the numbers of people with disabilities participating in the open labour market. The scheme provides financial incentives to private sector employers to hire people with a disability for between 21 and 39 subsidised hours per week under a contract of employment. The basic rate of subsidy is €5.30 per hour giving a total annual subsidy available of €10,748 per annum based on a 39 hour week.
Financial Supports for Employers Availing of WSS
The financial supports for employers are structured under three separate strands and companies could benefit under one strand or under two or three strands simultaneously, as the case may be, depending on the number of people with a disability employed, as below.
Strand I is a general subsidy for any perceived productivity shortfall in excess of 20% for a person with a disability, in comparison to a colleague without a disability. The subsidy is based on the number of hours worked.
Strand II subsidy is payable when an employer employs three or more people with disabilities 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 such 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 30 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.
The information requested for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 (to end of June) is set out in Tabular Form below.
Table 1 sets out WSS employer numbers for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 (to end of June).
Table 2 sets out the funding provided to the scheme for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 (to end of June).
Table 3 shows the number of WSS employers at end of June 2019, broken down by County. This breakdown is only available for 2019 as the scheme has moved from a paper based system to a central IT platform. This has enabled the provision of more informative data regarding the use of the subsidy and will allow the Department to review same with a view to increasing its effectiveness and efficiency.
Table 4 sets out WSS participant numbers for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 (to end of June).
Table 5 shows the estimated cost of increasing funding to the scheme by 10%, based on current active numbers. It should be noted that as the WSS is a demand-led scheme, it is not possible to provide a reliable estimate without significant additional information on other likely effects of such a change, for example an increase in demand.
Any changes to the scheme would have to be considered in a Budgetary context.
I hope this clarifies the issue for the deputy.
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Table 1: WSS employers
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2017 (end year)
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2018 (end year)
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2019 (to end June)
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WSS Employers
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1,489
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1,537
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1,671
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Table 2: WSS Expenditure
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2017
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2018
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2019 (to end June)
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Wage Subsidy Scheme
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€19.3 million
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€21.2 million
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€10.1 million
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Table 3: WSS Employer Engagement per County
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County
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Employer Engagement/County
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CO CARLOW
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42
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CO CAVAN
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82
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CO CLARE
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48
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CO CORK
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194
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CO DERRY*
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1
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CO DONEGAL
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91
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CO DUBLIN
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152
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CO GALWAY
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116
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CO KERRY
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73
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CO KILDARE
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49
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CO KILKENNY
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26
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CO LAOIS
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20
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CO LEITRIM
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21
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CO LIMERICK
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43
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CO LONGFORD
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41
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CO LOUTH
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93
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CO MAYO
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37
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CO MEATH
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47
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CO MONAGHAN
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95
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CO OFFALY
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32
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CO ROSCOMMON
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33
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CO SLIGO
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24
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CO TIPPERARY
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61
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CO WATERFORD
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48
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CO WESTMEATH
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52
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CO WEXFORD
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85
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CO WICKLOW
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65
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Grand Total
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1671
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Table 4: WSS participants
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2017 (end year)
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2018 (end year)
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2019 (to end June)
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WSS Participants
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2,475
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2,633
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2,722
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*Derry: Irish registered employer operating in Derry where the (Donegal) participant is employed.
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Table 5: Estimated costs of increasing WSS scheme funding by 10%
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Annual Forecast based on Current Numbers Contracted Hours @ €5.30 Rate
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Current Strand 1
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€24,696,791.60
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Current Strand 2
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€2,232,828.52
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Total
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€26,929,620.12
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8 Active EAO's @ 30K PA
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€240,000.00
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-
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Annual Forecast based on Current Numbers Contracted Hours & 10% Increase @ €5.83 Rate
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10% Increase Strand 1
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€27,166,470.76
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10% Increase Strand 2
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€2,456,111.37
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Total
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€29,622,582.13
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8 Active EAO's @ 33K PA
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€264,000.00
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Estimated Additional Total Increase Strand 1&2
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€2,692,962.01
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Estimated Additional Total Increase Strand 3
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€24,000.00
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Additional Estimated Cost
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€2,716,962
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