Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The recently agreed programme for a partnership Government provides for a range of actions that are designed to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. That is the vision and an example of the changes that will come up about under the Government. One of these actions is a proposal for the Departments of Health and Social Protection to work together to pursue a fit for work programme to support more people with an illness or disability to get back to work through early intervention.

The fit for work proposal is based on the findings of a pan-European study, which examined the impact of musculoskeletal disorders, MSDs, on an individual’s ability to work. The Irish module of this study was progressed by a coalition of key stakeholders and was led by Arthritis Ireland. The Irish College of General Practitioners, ICTU and the Health and Safety Authority also contributed to the study. It was a broad representative group.

Early interventions and developing return to work practices in the case of people with musculoskeletal incapacities is consistent with my Department’s approach to illness-disability income support, which aims to reduce the number of people progressing to chronic disability and long-term social welfare dependency. To this end, my Department issued a set of certification guidelines for GPs in 2015, which sets out defined periods of recovery for common medical conditions, including MSDs.

The certification guidelines build on the Renaissance project, which is an initiative of my Department since 2003. This has shown that early intervention reduced the incidence of progression from the acute simple low back pain to chronic disability in 64% of claimants. While specific proposals for a fit for work programme require further development and scoping out, I assure the Deputy that such proposals will be in line with the wealth of evidence, which shows that, generally, employment is good for one’s mental and physical health and well-being and, conversely, that unemployment is damaging.

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