Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

Will the Minister of State admit that things are going wrong and the fact that the employment rate among people with disabilities is decreasing is a sign of failure? It is important to acknowledge that and no amount of statistical discussion of CSO survey results will make it less clear. Compared to international best practices, where employment rates of more than 60% are achieved among people with disabilities, not only are we going in the wrong direction but we are also at the lower end of the international scale. I want the Minister to accept that the CSO figures reveal that things are going wrong.

I fear that the process of planning here is short-term and reactionary. Last year the big issue in the budget was disability but I fear it will not be mentioned tomorrow. Two years ago, the big issue was decentralisation, whatever it will be tomorrow. That short-term reactionary approach does not provide a solution. Does the Minister of State agree with the contents of the NDA report in terms of recent employment of people with disabilities, that what we need is an absolute political commitment not just to the various schemes mentioned by the Minister of State, which are welcome, but which the OECD shows are not working, but to a change in the culture of this country with regard to the attitude of employers and society generally to people with disabilities? Does the Minister agree that the most important action we can take to improve their lot is to ensure access to jobs? More than any social welfare or other relief scheme, that gives people pride, purpose and a reason for getting out of bed speedily every day.

The NDA report's recommendation is that rather than concentrating on the pilot schemes, though they are welcome, we need cultural change, led from the top. Is the Minister of State willing to take that approach and tackle the general population, where we have the problem, rather than the disabled population, who are willing and able but are not being employed? Will the Minister of State take that different approach of tackling the broader population on this issue as well as following up on the schemes he has talked about? To allow the Minister of State make that commitment, he must first recognise that despite all our efforts, matters are heading in the wrong direction.

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