Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I absolutely agree with the Chair that there is a cohort of people who have disabilities, which could be mild, and with a bit of extra help, there is no reason why they cannot take up employment and contribute - especially as we have a tight labour market at the minute. I made some changes in the budget so that a person could earn more. To try to support them, we increased the limit of what a person could earn on the disability payment and still work.

We are currently finalising a review of the reasonable accommodation fund. It was a commitment in the comprehensive employment strategy. The review is to see how to improve the effectiveness of grants and identify gaps in provision. It aims to improve the application and payment processes. That review will be published in quarter 1 of this year and it will be informed by the public consultation that took place last year. An additional €1 million in funding was announced in budget 2023 to support the recommendations from this review. We also have the employability service, which particularly targets people with disabilities and helps them get back into the workforce.

I was talking to somebody more than a year ago, and it is amazing when there is an advocate working for the employee and the employer. There are some things that get in the way and employees do not have the confidence to say to their employer that they need an hour off in the morning for a particular appointment. The employers did not know why they were not turning up. Then, when they got to the bottom of it, it could all be sorted. We need to give that support for those who have many challenges coming back into the workforce.

We have the ability programme as well, which is funded through the Dormant Accounts Fund. We have continued to fund it even though it was a special EU programme. We continued to fund it ourselves. They are doing good work in getting people back to work.

I absolutely agree with the Chair. We will have a particular focus on it. We have the cost of disability report and we are looking at how we can support people with the extra costs that they incur because of the disability. However, again, it is usually commensurate with the disability. Those who are severely disabled need more support rather than those that are mild. We will be working on that this year with that report. It is currently with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, who is chairing that committee. We need a whole-of-government approach because it is not just about the payment, it is also about transport and the health services. There is a whole plethora of other things involved. It is very much on my radar. There are people who want to contribute and can make a valuable contribution. With a bit of extra help, we can get them back into the workforce. I am happy to work with the committee on that as well.