Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have a strong commitment to young adults with a disability. I am in the position of knowing a number of such young people personally throughout their lives. For friends and relations of mine who would have children in that situation, it is very important. We have mainstreamed many young people into primary and secondary school, and now into preschool, and as the Deputy is aware, there is a number of programmes relating to third level education, all of which I have been a strong supporter of, both privately and publicly.

I personally know some of the people who have been on various programmes connected to the organisation involved in WALK. The approach taken has been very positive for many of the people I know who participated in the programmes. The EU funding came in the context of activation for work. The question that really arises is what is the best mix. We know there are social benefits and the types of benefits mentioned by the Deputy regarding families and individuals, with which I agree wholeheartedly, but this does not necessarily constitute work-type activation. The issue we really have is with the changes that have happened in institutions, where there were often sheltered workshops. We are moving more towards a wider employment area and the question is how best to do this while meeting the needs of people. As the Deputy probably knows-----

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