Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Work on draft proposals for a partial capacity scheme is currently under way in my Department. The Deputy will be aware that the structure of welfare provision in Ireland for people with illnesses or disabilities reflects a view that people can be categorised as being either capable of full-time work or incapable of full-time work. The fact is that a strict binary approach fails to capture the reality that people with a disability may have the capacity to engage in the open labour market. While partial employment capacity may be difficult to assess, the absence of such a system means that people with substantial work capacity may exit the labour market prematurely.

As has been noted by the OECD in its report on "Sickness, Disability and Work: Breaking the Barriers", which examined the structures of welfare provision for people with disabilities in Ireland and in a number of other OECD countries, the focus within welfare systems on incapacity rather than capacity carries negative consequences at a personal level for people with disabilities and their families.

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