Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone for their contributions and input. In the context of Article 27 on work and employment, Ireland has one of the lowest rates of employment of people with disabilities in the EU. The situation is a lot worse in disadvantaged areas than in affluent areas and we need a targeted approach to deal with that. Will the witnesses give their views on how we address that gap and deal with it, which we all know is not easy?

The Dormant Accounts Fund has been used previously to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Approximately €5 million was provided between 2021 and 2023. While I understand that funding from that source is not regular, I assume that organisations will continue to look for money from that fund for such purposes. There are no guarantees with regard to such funding but organisations can come to rely on it. Obviously, it is better if funding is mainstreamed but if there is an avenue there, they need to dig into it. I understand a final report is due on this and maybe we can figure out where we are in that regard and what is the plan for the future.

Reference was made to the LEOs partnering with the Open Doors Initiative to provide disability awareness training for staff. That training will begin this month but was there no training done previously? The witnesses mentioned training objectives in five different areas but surely staff would already have had a high degree of awareness. Is this training being introduced because there was a worry that staff were not properly trained or were not dealing with things in a proper fashion? I ask the witnesses to elaborate on that.

We have a lot of mental health issues in society and staff would often have to deal with people who have mental health difficulties. That can be quite challenging. How do the organisations cater for this? Are advocates and other supports provided for those who need them? The witnesses mentioned the fact that their organisations can engage with people on Zoom or through their websites but are there physical supports available too?