Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 23 September 2025

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed)

2:00 am

Mr. Ciarán Nugent:

Before the last couple of years, it was always women and the disabled. We have done quite well with increasing participation rates in the past four or five years. We are still low in a high-income European context. The biggest element there is the excessive cost in childcare and what the State can do for that. It is a similar story with the amount of resources and spending we give to help disabled people into work. There are a lot of unemployed people with disabilities in this country who are highly educated and highly skilled, but we cannot find ways to get them into employment. Public transport is a part of that in terms of mobility. It should be easier now that people can work from home, especially in some high-tech or high-skill sectors. There is a lot we can do there.