Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 18 May 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters

Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Pauline TullyPauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There needs to be more flexibility across our systems and more co-operation across Departments.

The wage subsidy scheme kind of has a negative connotation because the employer is focusing on the person’s inefficiencies or deficiencies. There are some employers that are not willing to say that the is person working for them because of their disability. Can the focus be changed on that when applying for it?

On self-employment, the point is often made to me that there is nothing similar to the wage subsidy scheme for self-employed people. An employer employing a disabled person can avail of a wage subsidy scheme. However, if you are employing yourself, basically, there are no supports additional to what any other self-employed person can avail of.

There is also a threshold of I think 21 hours around the subsidy scheme - I am open to correction on that. Again, not all disabled people are able to work 21 hours. It would be good if we could allow for part-time work as well. Some people, due to pain or other reasons, such as tiredness, cannot work 21 hours in the week. They could perhaps work ten or 15 hours. Perhaps the scheme could be staggered in relation to the number of hours worked and have a bit of flexibility.

We made that point in respect of education as well. Not everybody is able to take up a full-time course at, for example, higher education, so should consider offering it over an extended number of years on a part-time basis. That is starting to happen in many courses. Perhaps the same could be done in employment as well.

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