Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

Great.

I wish to ask the Minister for Social Protection the background to the decision to lay off 20 people from Rehab Recycle in Galway, which is part of Rehab Enterprises, in view of the fact that the majority of the people who have been made redundant have special needs. They have intellectual and physical disabilities. I would also like the Minister to elaborate on future Government subsidised work placements for people with intellectual disabilities. This is the first example, in the current recession, of people with intellectual disabilities being laid off. That is what makes this case unique.

Rehab Recyle, in Parkmore, Galway, is part of Rehab Enterprises, and currently has a total workforce of 45. Of these, 33 are classed as general operatives and 80% of these people are classed as having special needs. This week, between 17 and 20 of the employees received redundancy notification and of these, between 14 and 17 are special needs employees. Many of the employees being made redundant have worked for the Rehab company in Parkmore since its start-up in 1995, 17 years ago. Only three of those known to have been made redundant do not have special needs.

These redundancies will have a devastating effect on the employees themselves but, most importantly, on their families. I have already met three of these families. Their concern is what they will do with these adults, young and middle-aged, at home. These special needs employees depend on their jobs to allow them to integrate fully into society and to feel a sense of worth and identity. Without employment they will be left in a vulnerable position with a loss of dignity, sense of identity and self worth, leading, in some cases, to a rapid deterioration in their mental and physical health. That cannot be underestimated.

It is difficult to understand this decision. It makes very little economic sense because the majority of the employees' pay is subsidised by the Government. The very name Rehab Recycle suggests employment for people with special needs, yet the criteria Rehab has put forward for selection for redundancy include words such as, "lack of flexibility, innovation, dexterity, motivation and experience", words that would never be applied to people with special needs. They would not have those capacities. The criteria do not include length of service or loyalty, which these employees have demonstrated during their years of service with the company.

When I met one of the families, whose brother received redundancy notification this week, they asked me to describe the man to the Seanad. I will call him "Terry". He is 50 years of age and has been employed as a general operative by Rehab Recycle since it started in 1995. Last week, he received notification that he was one of the employees at risk and this week, following a meeting with management, he was notified that he was one of the people being made redundant. He works three days a week and lives an independent life in a house that is partly supervised.