Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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2010. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the expenditure on the reasonable accommodation fund and the initiatives within it in each of the years 2012 to 2016 and to date in 2017, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27072/17]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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The reasonable accommodation fund for the employment of people with disabilities assists employers in the private sector to take appropriate measures to enable a person with a disability to have access to employment by providing a range of grants. These grants and supports include:

- the workplace equipment and adaptation grant,

- the personal reader grant,

- the job interview interpreter grant, and

- the employee retention grant – this scheme assists in maintaining the employability of an employee who acquires an illness or disability by providing funding to identify accommodation and/or training to enable the employee to remain in their current position or to re-train the employee so that they can take up another position within the company.

The reasonable accommodation fund is a demand led scheme in that expenditure arises in response to applications received. The actual expenditure on this fund is set out in the table below.

Table: Expenditure on the Reasonable Accommodation Fund for People with Disabilities

The reasonable accommodation fund is one of a range of employment support schemes for people with disabilities managed by the Department of Social Protection since January 2012. Over that time, the reasonable accommodation fund has been regularly promoted, in tandem with the other schemes, through employer engagement initiatives. Furthermore, the Department’s own employment case officers’ and the staff of the EmployAbility service disseminate information on the scheme to both people with disabilities and private sector employers on a regular basis. Most recently, the operational guidelines and application forms for the grants have been reviewed and revised, so as to ensure that clear and accurate information is provided to applicants to the scheme.

I hope this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.