Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that clarity. I welcome the review because, as the Minister said, the take-up of these schemes is extremely low. That is very upsetting. Ireland's level of employment is very high yet the employment rate for disabled people is one of the lowest in Europe. We rank lowest, with Greece, at 32.6%. Greece's overall employment rate is not anything like Ireland's so that means we are actually the worst in Europe for the employment of disabled people. We have the largest disability employment gap in Europe. The employment rate here for disabled people is 38.6% lower than for people without disabilities. I am just wondering if people are aware of the schemes or if employers are aware of them and how they work. Correct me if I am wrong but I think the take-up of the employee retention grant was zero. We need to look at this and see if there is still a stigma attached to employing people with disabilities and if there is enough awareness among employers of the supports that are there to encourage them to ask disabled people to take up employment with them.

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