Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he intends to bring in advisers on education and employment for those with a disability, in the same way that he is introducing advisers for lone parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11808/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department assists and encourages the long-term unemployed, people with disabilities and other long-term welfare recipients to return to work, training or further education through a range of measures administered by my Department's social and family support service.

One significant measure is the back to work allowance scheme which incentivises and encourages long-term unemployed people, lone parents and certain persons with disabilities to return to work by allowing them to retain part of their social welfare payment when they take up employment or self-employment.

Another measure offered by my Department's social and family support service is the back to education allowance programme. Facilitators, based in social welfare local offices, provideadditional support through the special projects fund. This fund enables facilitators to provide enhanced supports to people who need additional help to progress to further training and employment.

The groups who may need special help of this nature include the long-term ill and people with disabilities, the very long-term unemployed, Travellers, people with literacy difficulties and lone parents. In 2004, 23 special projects catered for people with disabilities at a cost of over €500,000.

In addition to the special projects fund, the Department's family services project focuses supports towards specific target groups with complex needs, for example, people with disabilities, very young lone parents, parents rearing children without the support of a partner and dependent spouses on social welfare payments in households with children.

The provision of this additional support involving individual attention, customised information and enhanced access to services which would assist the family, increases the capacity of those in the most difficult circumstances, including people with disabilities, to improve their self-esteem and personal situations through access to basic education, training and developmental opportunities.

It is hoped that by encouraging customers with disabilities to participate in self-development programmes and in some instances "taster" educational programmes facilitated through FSP funding, co-funding or part funding that the people involved will move on to more formalised training and educational programmes. In 2004 six projects catered for people with disabilities and their families at a cost of €66,240.

The special projects and family services initiatives demonstrates the positive results of a partnership approach between my Department, the voluntary and community sector, the private sector and other local players in identifying and addressing local needs in terms of training and development for people dependent on social welfare payments including people with disabilities.