Mr. Patrick Murphy:

I thank the Chair. I am grateful for the invitation. I know the Deputy representing Cork South-West, Deputy Cairns, is also here. She was instrumental in the invitation being afforded to us. We are delighted to be here today to give a synopsis of what we do in Bantry NLN and to consider some of the issues we can tease out, going forward, and which might make employment opportunities for people with disabilities more easily accessible and attainable.

I am the manager of NLN in Bantry, west Cork. We cover the whole west Cork area. I have been with NLN for nigh on 20 years. Time is not long slipping by. I am joined by my colleague, Mr. Alan Porter, who recently completed the employment skills training programme in NLN and has moved on to employment. He will speak to his journey in NLN in due course when I have finished my remarks.

NLN is the training and education division of the Rehab Group. There are approximately 50 NLN training centres around the country. We provide a range of flexible training courses for people who have experienced a setback, have had an accident, a mental health difficulty, an illness, or injury or who have a disability or extra support needs. Our vocational courses are funded by Cork Education Training Board. Our rehabilitative training programmes are funded by the HSE. At any given time, there are approximately 120 students on various programmes in NLN in west Cork and Bantry.

NLN operates a unique continuous intake approach whereby students can start their training programmes at any time. Students learn at their own pace and have an individual action plan and reviews that take place monthly to make sure progress is going in the right direction for everybody and their needs are being met.

Our HSE-funded courses offer rehabilitative training programmes for students of 18 years and over. We also have a few innovative mental health programmes. Only last August, we were recognised by the WHO as a model of good practice in our home focus programme. It was heartening to be recognised as one of 25 projects internationally that achieved that recognition.

Our vocational programmes in Bantry are funded by the Cork Education and Training Board and offer introductory skills training. Our employability skills programme, which is a Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, level 3 programme, is an example.

We also offer skills-specific training programmes, including an employment skills QQI level 4 programme, which is known as employer-based training. That is the course Mr. Porter completed recently. We have a horticulture programme that is QQI level 4 certified. We also have an office administration programme by independent learning, whereby people study at home and come into the training centre two days a week. That is a QQI level 5 programme.

We have a multidisciplinary team supporting students which includes a rehabilitation psychologist, rehabilitation officer, a resource teacher and a team of instructors. The multidisciplinary team supports and provides an holistic approach to training and provides one-to-one and group sessions to help students build their study, organisational, social and psychological skills.

I will focus on the programme that Mr. Porter completed because that is pertinent to what we are discussing here today. That is our employment skills QQI level 4 programme. As I said, it offers a QQI level 4 training certification and is aimed towards the development of skills, knowledge and attitudes to transition to employment, further education and training or both. Students can spend up to two years on the 30-hour per week programme. The programme includes 22 hours on-the-job training, which is important, and eight hours in-centre training, working on the certification elements of the programme. Students within the NLN receive nationally recognised qualifications after completing their training and progress to employment or further education.

Last year, of the students who completed their training in the NLN in west Cork, 92% progressed to either part-time or full-time employment and further education and training.

One thing we do quite well in west Cork is our links with employers. Building that bond and that relationship is hugely important. Building links and trust with local employers is critically important in providing quality work experience and employment opportunities on completion of the training programme. NLN Bantry has a very comprehensive database of quality employers, spanning a broad range of employment sectors such as retail, tourism and hospitality, agrifood, public service, administration, pharma, social care and education. This enables NLN students to access quality work experience placements and job opportunities on completion of their training programmes. The network operates a close working relationship with these employers by regularly engaging through our employer-based training co-ordinator and our work experience co-ordinator. Additionally, the network offers all employers disability awareness training, and epilepsy and autism awareness training where required.

I will highlight some important points the committee might consider when putting together its report on employment and the UNCRPD. The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the further and higher education sectors are currently working on providing pathways through the various different levels within the further and higher education sectors. It is important that the programmes provided by specialist training providers, STPs, such as NLN, be included on this continuum to facilitate students’ access to clear progression routes on to further education and training, institutes of technology, technological universities and university courses in due course after having completed their programmes.

Something we find very useful in west Cork is the wage subsidy scheme for people with disabilities. This remains critically important for both employers and students in the provision and taking up of employment. We commend the recent increase in the rate of subsidy under the scheme. We would like greater flexibility brought into the scheme so more people can qualify, such as people who work less than 21 hours per week or whose expected duration of work is less than six months. The review of the scheme must meet the promise in the programme for Government to fine-tune and expand this scheme.

The Chair and Deputy Cairns will appreciate this next point, being from very rural communities. Our previous contributor mentioned it as well. Transport can be a large impediment to people with disabilities accessing training and education opportunities and employment. We hear this all the time. It is especially difficult in a rural context such as west Cork, for example, where public transport is underdeveloped. Greater investment is needed in this area to allow people with disabilities to take up these opportunities. The Local Link service could be expanded to offer a bespoke solution to people with disabilities travelling to work and training. I spent the past two days scrambling around trying to find transport for two students who were leaving school in Castletownbere so they could travel to Bantry to take up training places with NLN. We are working on it but there are no easy solutions.

The cost of disability needs to be addressed generally. The cost of participation in work or training can be high for many people with disabilities. The Indecon report on this was published last December and we really need the Government to respond to that in the upcoming budget, if at all possible.

There is another challenge in special schools. There is a lack of formal transition planning process from special schools to further and third levels. There is limited knowledge about post-second level training providers, such as NLN, so students lose out on inclusive education and training opportunities because they simply do not know these opportunities exist.

I thank the committee. I look forward to answering questions or expanding on any of the issues I have highlighted. I will hand over to Mr. Alan Porter, who recently completed our employment skills training programme.