Mr. Eddie Hennessy:

I thank the Chair and members of the committee for the opportunity to speak today. I was a disabled entrepreneur. I built my own business while living with the long-term effects of a major stroke and spent many years highlighting the potential of disabled people in self-employment.

After my stroke, I had to relearn rhythm, language and movement and I had to cope with the barriers in society that did not make space for my aphasia or my confusion. That experience taught me that recovery and creativity come from the same place - from finding new pathways when the old ones close but it also showed just how hard it is to build a career or a business in Ireland when the system simply is not built for it. For years, I worked as a disabled entrepreneur, proving it could be done but eventually the systemic barriers and high cost of disability made it impossible and took a toll on my health. Every small success came with new forms, new restrictions and new risks of losing essential supports. That is not entrepreneurship; that is survival under pressure.

Earlier this year, I published a report on disabled entrepreneurship in Ireland, based on freedom of information evidence and international comparisons. The findings were clear: no Department or agency takes responsibility for supporting disabled entrepreneurs. Schemes under the Departments of Social Protection, enterprise, and education do not join up. Disabled founders face complex and inconsistent rules on income supports, grants and taxation and no national data is being gathered. There is no measurement, no tracking and, therefore, no accountability. In recent correspondence, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality acknowledged my reports, Inclusion for Disabled Entrepreneurs and Parliamentary Brief: Disabled Entrepreneurs in Ireland. It was confirmed that the new National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025–2030 includes a specific commitment under priority action 5.6: "Promote inclusion and accessibility in entrepreneurship through the Local Enterprise Offices, including adapting content and method of delivery in consultation with Disabled Persons’ Organisations, and standardised training to meet the needs of clients with a disability."

The Department said this will be led by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, with the Department of Social Protection coleading the employment pillar to reflect the link between income supports and employment. Both Departments also acknowledged and referenced this same commitment in response to my report. I welcome these as positive steps, but they still fall short of what is needed. Adapting local enterprise office training is not the same as developing targeted supports or a joined-up framework.

The strategy mentions collaboration, but it does not assign clear ownership or dedicated funding. Without that, the same gaps will persist, just under a new title. I want to ask the committee the following question: if no Department or agency is clearly responsible for supporting disabled entrepreneurs, how will these commitments ever translate into real outcomes? To move forward, we need more than aspirations; we need implementation with accountability. That means a lead Department or agency with authority to co-ordinate policies, funding and delivery, a national strategy for disabled entrepreneurs with measurable targets; flexible income and grant supports so that people can test their business ideas without the risk of losing benefits, and accessible mentoring and training shaped by people with lived experience.

Other countries have done this. In the United Kingdom, the Lilac Review is a ten-year, government-backed plan codesigned with disabled entrepreneurs. It sets out measurable targets, gathers data and treats disabled entrepreneurship as an issue of innovation, not welfare.