Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to ensure that persons with disabilities are not left behind by the State in any economic recovery and the new job activation measures that will be put in place to enable those who want to work to find work. [17374/15]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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One of the most marginalised groups in Irish society comprises those with disabilities who were left behind during the peak years. What measures are being taken to ensure these people are not left behind in any employment and job activation measures and in any future recovery.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. It is certainly a priority of the Government that people are not left behind. The Government is anxious to facilitate the increased participation in employment of persons with a disability. It is committed to removing barriers which prevent those persons from availing of employment opportunities and will work closely with disability representative organisations in this regard. As part of this strategy, the Department will develop the Intreo service to provide specific jobseeker supports to people with disabilities. This process has already commenced in ten pilot locations across the country for those who wish to avail of the service. Engagement with the Intreo service by people with disabilities is on a voluntary basis. The Department already manages a wide range of specific employment-related supports for people with disabilities. These include the wage subsidy scheme for employers and the EmployAbility service. EmployAbility participants are people with disability who are job ready and need the support of a job coach to obtain employment in the open labour market.

For those in receipt of invalidity pension or illness benefit for at least six months and who feel they have some capacity for work, the partial capacity benefit scheme allows them to work and retain a portion of their social welfare payment.

The Department will continue to develop its supports for persons with a disability to increasing their opportunities of participation in employment and is committed to removing barriers which prevent those persons from availing of employment opportunities. The Government expects to publish in the near future a comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply and I look forward to the long-awaited and overdue comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities. I hope it will include proposals which are acceptable to those who have a disability and are trying to access work. In Switzerland 80% of those who have a spinal cord injury return to work but in Ireland 80% of those with a spinal cord injury are unemployed. I can provide other figures. The Disability Federation of Ireland has stated that approximately 40,000 disability allowance recipients would like to be in paid employment but at present, only 1,500 people avail of the wage subsidy scheme the Minister of State mentioned while 3,0000 people avail of the EmployAbility service. There is duplication in many cases. This leaves a huge number of people who are not being supported in getting back to work. A significant job of work for the Government and any future Government is not to have laudable policies but to see them implemented so this figure is changed. What specifically will the Government do to reduce the significant number of 40,000 people with disabilities who want to go back to work but cannot do so because the supports are not in place at present?

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I know the Deputy feels very strongly about this issue. I have been around the country and I have seen excellent services being provided by the Department of Social Protection.

I recently visited the EmployAbility programme in Galway, which is successful in helping people with disabilities into work. The partial capacity scheme, which was introduced by the Tánaiste, assists people to take up employment where they are not in a position to go back to full-time work. We are not waiting for the final report as we have the ten Intreo offices providing support and services to people with disabilities. Over the coming months, I look forward to the cross-departmental report and to implementing the measures within it. For people who find themselves unemployed, not just those with disabilities, it is important that no one is left behind unlike what happened in the 1990s and 2000s, where we had significant numbers of jobless households where no one worked. I look forward to working with the Deputy on that point. This includes people who are long-term unemployed and those with disabilities, who want to contribute. We will do everything we can to assist them in making a contribution to society.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Does the Minister of State accept there will be substantial changes to the existing support mechanism or new mechanisms introduced as a consequence of this comprehensive employment strategy given that the Disability Federation of Ireland says there will be no recovery without them? This is a declaration that in the past people with disabilities were left behind and were most marginalised during the boom. They continue to be marginalised since and are demanding a fair crack of the whip in advance of a recovery and into a future boom period.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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We have extensive forums within the Department for disability groups. I will not pre-empt the report but there is a strong commitment to assisting people with disabilities into employment. The Deputy will not find me lacking in hard work or commitment on that point.