Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 321: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to offer people with disabilities further improved pathways to participation in employment or education, avoiding the benefits trap. [18543/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

My Department provides a number of employment and training incentives to encourage and facilitate people, including people with a disability, to take up available work or training options. These include the back to work and back to education allowances.

The back to work allowance provides a monetary incentive for people who are long term dependant on social welfare payments, including illness or disability related payments, designed to make return to work financially attractive and viable. The scheme is designed to support people who would not otherwise be able to return to the workforce.

The back to education allowance is an educational opportunities scheme for long term unemployed, lone parents and people with disabilities in receipt of particular social welfare payments. The objective of the scheme is to enhance the employability skills of groups who are distant from the labour market.

There are also certain exemptions applying to the qualifying conditions for illness benefit and invalidity pension schemes to facilitate people to undertake employment of a rehabilitative nature. In the case of disability allowance and blind pension, prescribed levels of income from employment are disregarded in the assessment of means for those schemes.

The National Development Plan 2007-13 provides for a Social and Economic Participation Programme aimed at promoting participation and social inclusion through activation measures aimed at all people of working age including people on illness or disability related payments. Engagement with customers will have progression to employment as the desired outcome. The programme will build on the existing experience and income maintenance relationship with the people concerned, in co-operation with other relevant service providers such as FÁS, VEC, HSE and other local agencies.

An additional 30 facilitators will be assigned during 2008 to enhance the existing network of 40 facilitators who operate locally across the department's 8 regions.

The Department has also secured funding under the European Social Fund Human Capital Investment Operational Programme 2007 -13 to undertake an activation programme in the Border Midlands and Western (BMW) region aimed specifically a people with disabilities. A high level objective of the programme is to develop and test a comprehensive employment strategy based on individual case management of people with disabilities. The project will bring together key organisations such as FÁS, the VEC and HSE in providing support for people with disabilities to enable them access education and training programmes. It is anticipated that the project, to be located in Mullingar, will be operational by mid summer 2008.

I regard these measures as positively addressing the need to engage with people with disabilities in pursuing real opportunities to progress to training and employment.