Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the representatives for being here. I apologise for missing much of the discussion. I was next door at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I am very sorry if I ask questions that have already been asked.

I have a particular interest in the employment side of things when it comes to people with disability. Last week, officials from the Department of Social Protection appeared before the committee. Many of us asked them about supports for entrepreneurship. One question I asked was whether we need a specific support for entrepreneurs with disabilities so that we can encourage entrepreneurs without sending people over that cliff edge we talked about or taking away that safety net of knowing they have payments coming to them. The officials from the Department basically told me, "No", and that we do not need specific grants or support programmes because loads of these kinds of programmes are already in place for entrepreneurs. They are correct there are lots of programmes. We talked about LEOs and Enterprise Ireland. There is a lot going on in this space but the point I made is that people with disabilities, by their very nature, often require additional support.

Professor Cooney pointed out it is not just about people with disabilities. A whole heap of people would benefit from an inclusion entrepreneurship policy. If we do not provide additional support for people with disabilities who want to become entrepreneurs and will, hopefully, some day run their own businesses, employ other people, and come up with innovative solutions that we as a society and economy can benefit from, we are denying everybody. We are denying those people who will someday be employed by them the opportunity to be, we are denying their product or service to hit market and, most importantly, we are quenching ambition. That is not what we should be doing as a State. We should be empowering and enabling ambition.

I will put the same question I put to the Department of Social Protection to the three representatives. Do we need a specific support for entrepreneurs with disabilities so that we can encourage entrepreneurs without sending people over a cliff edge or taking away that safety net of payments?