Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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66. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps he is taking to improve the employment of rates among individuals with disabilities. [21884/23]

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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Ireland has one of the lowest employment rates for disabled people in the EU at 32.3%. This results in almost one quarter of people who are unable to work due to illness or disability living in consistent poverty compared to 6.7% of the rest of the population.

Many disabled people want to work but they continue to face structural and physical barriers. What is being done to assist disabled people to get employment and to start their own businesses?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for tabling this question. My Department has a responsibility, along with others, to ensure that increasing numbers of people with disabilities participate in the labour market and to do more in that regard. I acknowledge that, as a country, we are not where we need to be in this area and it will be a priority for me over the next year or so to change that. There are some good results within the public sector, where we are meeting targets. In my Department, for example, we are well above the 6% target that was set for the public sector and the same is true for IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. However, that is not really the story. The story here is that across our economy there is full employment. Can we do more, through our agencies and through incentives for employers, to ensure that we provide opportunities for people with a disability to get paid work? I am determined to do more on that.

We do not rate well in comparison to other European countries in this space. Only slightly more than one third of people with a disability in Ireland have paid employment which is not good enough, particularly when we have such a wealth of employment opportunities in the country at the moment. I see people with a disability as a significant asset in terms of employment opportunities in Ireland. This is true for them, in terms of their own employment opportunities but also for employers. There are a number of good, innovative projects around the country that the Government is supporting. Indeed, there is a whole series of things being done by Enterprise Ireland and my Department that I can outline to the Deputy but it is an accepted criticism that, regardless of the positive things that are happening, they are not impactful enough right now. I will be conducting a review across my Department's agencies to see what we can do to improve Ireland's performance in this area. I am happy to put that on the record and again thank the Deputy for raising the issue.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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The Minister is right that at a time when employment rates are so high, the lack of employment for disabled people is even more stark. The absence of joined-up policies is a key issue here. For example, poor public transport means disabled people cannot get to jobs. In Cork South-West, many Local Link services only run in the mid-afternoon which means people cannot use them to get to work. The services are just not designed for that. Many disabled people face an income cliff when they get a job as many of their social welfare supports suddenly stop. The social welfare support system should recognise that there is a cost of disability, whether one is in employment or not. There should not be a disincentive for people to go into employment.

I realise some of these issues relate to other Departments but in the context of employment, the Minister has a role in addressing all of the structural barriers for disabled people. On a matter directly related to his portfolio, I ask him to outline what he is doing to support disabled entrepreneurs. In terms of standard PAYE jobs, there are supports for disabled people but this logic has not been applied to disabled people seeking to start their own business.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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On the public transport issue, I accept this is a barrier to entry into the workforce, particularly in rural Ireland but some of these barriers are not as difficult to overcome as they used to be. Many more people are now working remotely and are getting options to work from home. We have technology platforms now that allow many skilled people to work from home or from local enterprise hubs in places like Skibbereen and elsewhere. There are a lot more opportunities now, through using technology, that allow people to work remotely. We should be able to work with people who have a physical disability, in particular, and who have limited public transport options, to find potential employment opportunities.

Enterprise Ireland is focused on ensuring that its supports for entrepreneurs and enterprise are accessible to all, including people with disabilities. Its online content has been adapted to make information more accessible. It continues to invest in accessible training content, which is available on eilearn.ie, and works in conjunction with stakeholders in the local enterprise offices and third level colleges to develop new programmes and initiatives in this area.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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The hub in Skibbereen is a great example of a remote working hub but if one lives in a rural area, one needs transport, in many instances, to get to it. The hub is doing its bit to provide remote working opportunities but there is no public transport available for people to get to it.

I encourage the Minister to help his colleagues in other Departments to consider how their responsibilities relate to employment prospects among disabled people. We need to develop robust policies to tackle malpractices within public services. The Disability Participation and Consultation Network highlighted that policies around returning to work after acquiring a disability need to be revised. The Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters heard examples of people unable to return to their public sector jobs because they are not being given the flexible arrangements that they need.

As a former Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney will be aware that many disabled people are excluded from careers in the Defence Forces. What kind of message does that send? Representatives from the Independent Living Movement Ireland appeared before the disability matters committee and pointed out that they could contribute to desk work, strategy and logistics, all of which are vitally important. At a time when the Defence Forces are severely understaffed, it is just illogical as well as discriminatory to exclude a whole cohort of people.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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First, I will outline some of the other things Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland are doing. Last year Enterprise Ireland signed a partnership agreement with Open Doors to further develop awareness campaigns and programmes that will utilise success stories of self-employed and entrepreneur role models across a variety of areas, including people with disabilities. Additionally, the office infrastructure is designed, or has been adapted, to accommodate people with intellectual and physical disabilities.

IDA Ireland is working in partnership with Generation Ireland to launch a pilot programme designed to widen the talent pool and attract people from diverse backgrounds to avail of employment opportunities. That programme is expected to deliver some good results. However, as I said at the start, we can do more and be more impactful in this area. I have personal experience of some really innovative projects which can be templates and can be replicated in other parts of the country to enable people with a disability to get trained and get the skills they need to prepare them for the workplace. Many of these projects have been very successful but we are not doing enough of them. Over the next 12 months, I hope we will see some progress on the numbers that have been pointed to in recent weeks.