Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Dea for recognising the significant progress in reducing the live register. He is quite correct. The unemployment rate was at 15%, and heading for 500,000, but more than 100,000 net new jobs have been created in the economy since February 2012 and we have seen the unemployment rate drop into single figures. In the disability sector, the unemployment rate is far too high. It is key that the Intreo services are provided on a voluntary basis. Those are available in ten locations, including the one in Limerick. We want to roll the service out to all the other Intreo centres but we need to see what is the operational experience of that. The Minister and I want to provide the best service we possible can for those with disabilities. As I stated earlier, the State is spending €37 million solely on activation measures for persons with a disability.

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