Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The issue is that we get the fullest use of the existing schemes. I want to say to employers who may be listening or reading this, if it is reported in the media, that we offer, through the Department of Social Protection, very significant wage subsidy schemes for employers who take on people with a disability of any age although, of course, this includes young people. Many people in organisations dealing with young people with a disability are very keen to see that scheme expanded, as I am. Measures include the wage subsidy, the adaptations scheme which, for example, provides for small-level grants for physical adaptation of premises, if necessary, and the mentoring scheme provided both to the employer and to the young person.

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