Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 18 May 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters
Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. R?n?n Hession:
I accept that and I said that in my opening statement. I made that clear in the first paragraph. The overall metrics to accompany the UNCRPD must be put in place in the implementation plan. From my Department's perspective, the key metrics are primarily those in the survey on income and living conditions, SILC, such as poverty measurements regarding consistent poverty, deprivation or the risk of poverty rates. The rates are significantly elevated for disabled people compared to the rest of the population. You also see that the poverty reduction effect of income transfers is 63%. What that means is that for the population at large, which has a risk of poverty rate of 13%, without income supports from our Department, it would have been 37%. Apart from Finland, we are the country with the heaviest reliance on income supports. In other words, the social welfare system is doing the heavy lifting - more so than almost any other country in Europe.
The other issue is around participation rates. The participation rate in work for people with disabilities is roughly half of what it is for the rest of the population. We have a part to play in that. We do not control who is in employment. however. We need employers to come with us on that. It is a broader whole-of-government issue. I agree that we all have to play our part in that.
Regarding the question on training, I have looked at it. It is a module run across the Civil Service. It is very easy to do. Our teams have also done it. We also have personal employment advisers in respect of disability in all our Intreo centres. We have a pilot that was a grassroots proposal from our own staff on the ground in Limerick for an autism sensory room. In other words, when we are discussing claims with customers with an autism diagnosis, we have a room that has been designed for their needs. That is being put in place in each new office as we upgrade our Intreo offices across the country.
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