Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

An awful lot can be done and I can do a lot as Minister. I have been working under the radar with small businesses up and down the country in this area. There are fantastic examples of good practice in small business and in the private sector. I visited a project in Galway a year and a half ago where 101 people with some form of disability were employed by nine or ten small businesses. It was supported by the wage subsidy scheme, WSS. Some of the people were highly technically qualified with a physical disability but fantastic on IT matters.

The public sector also has to be involved and we need to get the 3% figure up to 6%, though I am aiming for 10%. We are doing a lot and there are 5,000 people on the WSS scheme who are working in different areas with some degree of disability. In the CRC, in my own constituency, I have met young people aged between 18 and 20 who are highly intelligent and articulate but have some form of physical disability and who are crying out for work. We are focusing on the ability programme to address their needs.

We have to follow examples of good practice, much of which comes from creative small businesses where they have open minds and are inclusive. One young man aged 28, a supportive and inclusive manager of a shop, spotted an autistic family going into a shopping centre in Drogheda. He noticed that the mother was under severe pressure and had nowhere to leave her child. He opened up a sensory room because he recognised that 15% of his market had some form of disability and wanted to provide a place for kids to be left while the parents were shopping. He did it out of good will but turned it to his advantage and now he is making a fortune, with every special school in the Louth and north Meath area visiting him to use his services. I have been in the sensory room and it is a fantastic facility.

I mentioned the 5,000 people with disabilities who are working on the WSS scheme but we have a long way to go. Unemployment among people with disabilities is unacceptably high and we need to encourage people to be more supportive. We need to change attitudes and broaden the minds of people, particularly employers.