Ms Marion Wilkinson:

I want to address some of the questions Deputy Tully brought up in two ways. One is around the research that the NDA has conducted on the issue of supporting people at work. One of the important features we have in our work is how we consult with people about what the research is telling us. In 2020 we did a piece of work around reasonable accommodation.

We looked not only at good practice but also at the cases on which the Workplace Relations Commission had adjudicated. A number of important features came out of that. First, a large number of employers are unaware of their responsibilities around equal status legislation. Second, there are the difficulties that some people have gone through in accessing the accommodation they need. That is for a couple of reasons, and includes cases where people do not know precisely what accommodation would work well for them in their place of work, which can come about from returning to work after acquiring a disability. That led the NDA to produce a paper on the gap in the Irish system as regards vocational rehabilitation. These issues coalesce because there is a huge gap in awareness among employers. In some regards, there are also attitudinal barriers.

As my colleagues mentioned, the review of the reasonable accommodation fund currently taking place presents an opportunity. Some of the commentary and suggestions made by the NDA to inform the review have been reflected in the comments this morning about funding the person who requires a piece of equipment, technology or accommodation. As Dr. Hartney said, not all accommodations cost money. Flexible working approaches and reduced hours can be one solution. Another solution is to support the individual using some of the apparatus that is already in place, such as the IBEC-ICTU reasonable accommodation passport our colleagues spoke about, where somebody only looks for a support once and then that travels with him or her. All of those measures can be put in place. The NDA has made recommendations about what they would look like to make the service and approach more seamless.

The case raised by the Deputy, where the reasonable accommodation fund is not made available to people in the public sector, also arose in the NDA consultations. That issue needs to be addressed. I have given an outline of some of the commentary on NDA contributions.