Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator again for raising the issue. As Minister of State with responsibility for the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025, I am very committed to improving and extending supports to help more people with disabilities to enter employment and stay in the workforce. The work the providers have done in the context of the Ability programme has been innovative and has made a difference in the lives of the young people who have participated. We listened carefully to the Ability representatives last month and this morning when they described the experiences of the young participants and the positive impact of the programme on their lives. This is particularly relevant to my remit. I have oversight of the social inclusion and community activation programme nationally having regard to what we can do with the Ability programme in the long term but also with regard to the community employment schemes' aim to act as a bridge to the labour market.

Our planned approach entails a combination of measures. There is to be an extension of the current programme until the end of August. An application process opening in April of this year will allow successful applicants to continue uninterrupted from August into September and beyond as part of a new programme.