Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am very pleased that I will be launching the comprehensive employment strategy this Friday. I welcomed and supported the Disability Activation Project, which was jointly funded by the European Social Fund and the Department of Social Protection and ran from 2012 to April 2015 in the BMW regions. The objective of the project was to explore ways in which people with disabilities are enabled to avail of progression, education and development opportunities within the world of work.

The Department commissioned an independent evaluation to identify the learning from the projects, focusing on what works to increase the capacity and potential of people who have a disability to participate in the labour market. It also examined which aspects of the project are capable, where appropriate, of being mainstreamed in the delivery of supports to people with disabilities in the future.

We have a stream of funding for a follow-on programme, based on the learning from the projects. The new ESF operational programme, Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning, 2014-2020, will provide €10 million in funding for future disability activation activities.

The Disability Activation Project evaluation report will be examined by an inter-departmental group, which will be chaired by the Department and will include the National Disability Authority and representatives of Departments which have commitments under the comprehensive employment strategy.

This group will provide, in the context of the actions outlined in the comprehensive employment strategy, a practical mechanism for advancing the positive aspects of the work identified in the evaluation and will determine the next steps in the context of future disability activation activities being provided for under the new ESF programme where the funding will be expanded.

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