Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason the FÁS national supported employment programme has been designed primarily for people with the least severe disabilities when it was originally charged with providing supported employment for people with significant disabilities; and the measures he intends to take to ensure that those with significant disabilities are included within the scope of the programme. [18466/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Supported Employment is an open labour market programme which is operated on behalf of my Department by FAS. It seeks to facilitate the integration of persons with disabilities into the open labour market by providing supports on the job. A job coach, who assists both the job seeker and the employer, provides the support. Supported Employment identifies existing jobs, matches suitable individuals with those jobs and assists them to integrate into the workforce by providing supports in the workplace. Supports may also be given in relation to adapting the work environment to meet the needs of an individual worker.

The Supported Employment programme, therefore, does not focus on the nature or the severity of the person's disability, but rather on their ability to do the job. As such, the programme has been successful in securing employment for persons with a wide and varied range of disabilities. FAS has a proposed expenditure budget of €8.2m allocated for this programme in 2006, representing a 24% increase on the actual spend of €6.6m in 2005. A total of 700 participants availed of this programme in 2005.

FAS also administers the new Wage Subsidy Scheme which was launched last year. The scheme offers financial support to employers outside the public sector to encourage them to employ people with disabilities. It provides the potential for both the employee and the employer to receive an incentive. The amount of subsidy paid to an employer under the scheme varies in accordance with the level of productivity of the individual compared with normal work performance.

In addition, FAS contracts with Specialist Training Providers through an extensive training centre network to deliver vocational training to people with disabilities who require more intensive support than would be available in FAS mainline options. The budget for this activity in 2006 is €46.8m in line with maintaining the number of participants at 1,961 for the full year.

The total budget for FAS schemes and grants aimed at promoting or facilitating the employment of people with disabilities in the private sector in 2006 is €67.31m.

Provision of sheltered employment and other arrangements to meet rehabilitative needs of individuals are outside the remit of the Supported Employment programme, which as already indicated, has an open labour market focus. Responsibility for rehabilitative training and sheltered workshops are the responsibility of the Department of Health and Children.