Ms Angela Kerins:

Yes, the Department of Social Protection has a scheme in place. It started out many years ago in the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It has had a few names, but it is called the wage subsidy scheme under which funding is provided for any employer - it does not have to be Rehab - towards meeting the productivity deficit in respect of an employee with a disability. Many years ago we campaigned for and promoted the employment of people with disabilities.

Also we wanted to develop - this is how Rehab Enterprises actually started out - real employment opportunities for people with disabilities, getting the same wage as everybody else. We wanted a mix of able-bodied and disabled, also sort of a 50:50 mix and moving away from this whole sheltered workshop activity, where somebody with a disability doing the same work as a person without a disability would actually get the same wage. That was the start of the-----