Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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257. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the steps her Department is taking to encourage persons with blindness into employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26647/14]

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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264. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the supports provided by her Department to those who suffer from blindness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26640/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 257 and 264 together.

The Department provides a range of income and work-related supports for people with disabilities, including people with blindness. The Blind Person’s Pension is a means-tested payment paid to blind and visually impaired people who are habitually resident in Ireland. Recipients of the payment may also qualify for the Blind Welfare Allowance paid by the Health Service Executive (HSE). Persons in receipt of the Blind Person’s Pension will automatically get a Free Travel Pass and a Companion Free Travel Pass and may also qualify for other benefits such as the Living Alone Increase and the Household Benefits Package.

Work-related supports include the EmployAbility service (formerly the Supported Employment Programme) which facilitates the integration of people with disabilities into paid employment in the open labour market; as well as a number of other supports specifically for employers (the Wage Subsidy Scheme - which pays an employer a subsidy for employing a person with a disability, the Work Equipment Adaptation Grant, the Employee Retention Grant, and the Disability Awareness Scheme).