Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the reply and I look forward to the long-awaited and overdue comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities. I hope it will include proposals which are acceptable to those who have a disability and are trying to access work. In Switzerland 80% of those who have a spinal cord injury return to work but in Ireland 80% of those with a spinal cord injury are unemployed. I can provide other figures. The Disability Federation of Ireland has stated that approximately 40,000 disability allowance recipients would like to be in paid employment but at present, only 1,500 people avail of the wage subsidy scheme the Minister of State mentioned while 3,0000 people avail of the EmployAbility service. There is duplication in many cases. This leaves a huge number of people who are not being supported in getting back to work. A significant job of work for the Government and any future Government is not to have laudable policies but to see them implemented so this figure is changed. What specifically will the Government do to reduce the significant number of 40,000 people with disabilities who want to go back to work but cannot do so because the supports are not in place at present?

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