Ms Denise Kennedy:

I am the head of HR and corporate affairs at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. My team and I are delighted to be here today to discuss disability-inclusive social protection in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. I am joined by my colleagues Kevin Galligan, Colm McKiernan, Catherine Halley and Wila Bruce.

As outlined in our submission, it is noted the UNCRPD adopts a broad understanding of social protection that effectively contributes to the realisation of essential rights such as social security, adequate standards of living, living independently in the community and with access to health care, education, and employment. While the Department is not the lead for policy development in this area, we remain highly committed to the aims of the convention. We incorporate this commitment primarily through promoting and maintaining an inclusive and diverse workplace and by ensuring wide accessibility to all our services. The Department also incorporates this commitment through funding of the LEADER programme and the social farming project as part of the rural innovation and development fund. The Department’s Statement of Strategy 2021-2024 sets out as one of its core values, "A strong commitment to diversity, inclusion and the fair and equal treatment of all." These core values are embraced in respect of both our own employees and customers and stakeholders of the Department who avail of our wide range of services.

With respect to the topic of moving away from an "incapacity to work" approach, the Department has internal and external measures focused on disability inclusion. On the internal front, the Department’s diversity, equality, and inclusion policy, builds on our core values of "A strong commitment to diversity, inclusion and the fair and equal treatment of all." We have exceeded the 3% minimum employment requirement in each of the past ten years and the level was at 4.23% at the end of 2022, that is, 166 of our staff reporting with a disability. In May 2022, an equality, diversity, and inclusion advocacy team was launched by the Secretary General of the Department, Mr. Brendan Gleeson. The mission of the team is to celebrate the diversity of our people and promote equality of opportunity and respect for diversity in all aspects of the Department’s business and to promote, champion and foster a work environment where our people are free to be their authentic selves, to be creative, thrive and to flourish, while making a valuable contribution to the Department’s goals. In December 2022, to celebrate colleagues with disabilities, a number of staff shared their lived experiences of their disability in a series of short videos that were made available staff throughout the Department. In addition, as part of this celebration a number of transition year students from the Holy Family School for the Deaf visited the Department and shared some insights about communication and sign language. Both initiatives were highly informative and of great value to our staff from an education and awareness-raising perspective.

Our Department fully supports active labour market policies that facilitate access to the labour market for people with disabilities. We participate in three programmes in place in the civil and public service. There is the willing, able, and mentoring programme, which provides a six-month paid and mentored work placement for graduates with disabilities. Former participants now have a pathway to permanent employment. One former participant of the programme joined the Department in a permanent post in early 2023. In the second programme the Department has collaborated with the Houses of the Oireachtas Service and other Departments on the Oireachtas work learning, OWL. programme. This is an applied learning and development programme for young adults with an intellectual disability. In place since September 2019, the programme has been developed to include a confined recruitment competition for permanent part-time posts. In June 2022, one of the graduates from the OWL programme joined our team in a permanent post. Both programmes facilitate benefits being compatible with work, whereby the recruits from these programmes work a shorter week, in particular in the case of the OWL programme. This year, plans are under way to provide opportunities for people with disabilities under the job shadow scheme.

Moving to more externally focused accessibility measures, the Department aims to ensure that the needs of all its customers, including people with disabilities, are met and that the rights of equal treatment are upheld in the delivery of our services.

In accordance with section 26(2) of the Disability Act 2005, two appointed access officers are responsible for providing support to people with disabilities in accessing services provided by the Department. Our move to the gov.ie portal enabled the Department to redesign its website to comply with the web accessibility initiative, WAI, and the National Disability Authority, NDA, guidelines. We have developed our online self-service options so that customers can complete their submissions online at a time and pace that suits them. They can contact our phone helplines and a customer can also nominate a representative to liaise on their behalf.

Turning to the LEADER programme, the Department provides funding for the programme for rural development, as led by the Department of Rural and Community Development. The programme is focused on a thematic approach to rural development under the headings of economic development, enterprise development and job creation, social inclusion, and the rural environment. Focusing on the move away from institutionalised care to support for living in the community, the Department part-funds initiatives related to social farming and community supports. Social farming is the practice of offering, on a voluntary basis, farming and horticultural participation in a farming environment open to people who avail of a range of therapeutic day support services. Experience has shown that well-run operations provide an opportunity for inclusion for participants which can increase their self-esteem and improve their health and well-being. Departments and agencies work together in the delivery of this model.

Leitrim Development Company has secured a contract for the past three years to enable the design, development and implementation of a national social farming network. An allocation of €400,000 is being provided by the Department in 2023 to further develop and expand the network. In addition, a competitive procurement process was held in 2021 for the development of best-practice social farming model projects. Contracts were awarded with associated funding of approximately €377,000 to support four projects. The Social Farming Ireland Network has over 150 registered social farms, with at least one farm in every county. More than 600 people have been trained by the Leitrim Development Company in the principles and practices of social farming. In 2022 alone, some 6,867 placement days were delivered, up from fewer than 2,000 in 2017.

In drawing my opening statement to a conclusion, I thank the committee for this opportunity to provide an overview of our commitment to supporting disability-inclusive social protection and we are happy to take questions.