Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe anseo inniu. I will start with what a number of people said to me about the budget and the fact that we do not have a cost-of-disability payment. The budget has not taken into account the cost of disability that exists across the board. If somebody wants to mention that at some point, that will be fine. We are dealing with access to work.

What engagement have the witnesses had with employers around the wage subsidy scheme and the work and access programme? A number of employers, the likes of Rehab and others, have spoken about the scheme. It increased by €1.20, from €6.30 up to €7.50. There is an added cost for employers who take on more than one employee. It was generally done on a percentage basis, anything from 10% to 50%, but that was changed with fixed prices. Employers have said they have come under more pressure, as all employers have at this point in time. Whereas they may have been anticipating an increase of €1.20 for multiple employees, what they ended up with was a 57 cent increase in cases of between three and six employees and a 55 cent increase where there were 23 or more employees. These are the major employers that we want to see more of. The increase was on a diminishing basis, I suppose.

In 2019, the number of wage subsidy scheme employers was 1,979. In 2024, it was 1,504. It is going the wrong way. In 2019, there were 2,881 employees, but that has come down to 2,466. This does not work. The issues around reasonable accommodations have already been spoken about, and I do not think they work. Even if we were to talk to the Minister or her officials, no one would say the work and access programme is working correctly. I ask the witnesses to comment on those two issues.