Written answers

Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Department of Social Protection

Disability Activation Projects

Photo of Colm KeaveneyColm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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57. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the proposals she will bring forward to ensure that persons with disabilities will not be worse off if they take up employment opportunities; the way she proposes to make work pay for persons with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17245/15]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Government recognises the importance of increasing participation in employment for persons with a disability and is committed to removing barriers which prevent those persons from availing of employment opportunities.

To this end, the department manages a number of specific supports and measures to support people with disabilities in moving into employment.

Employment-related supports include the Wage Subsidy Scheme, which is targeted at employers to encourage employment of people with disabilities and the EmployAbility service, which supports people with disabilities who wish to work through the provision of a job coach.

Moreover, people with a disability in receipt of social welfare income supports who work can retain a portion of their payment. For example, if a person's doctor recommends that the work is of a rehabilitative or therapeutic nature, recipients of disability allowance (DA) can work and earn €120 per week without affecting the rate of DA being paid, while if the weekly earnings are between €120 and €350, fifty per cent of the earnings will be disregarded in the DA means test.

For people who are in receipt of invalidity pension or who have been in receipt of illness benefit for a minimum of six months, the partial capacity benefit scheme,which I introduced in 2012, provides an opportunity for persons to take up employment and continue to receive an ongoing portion of their weekly social welfare payment, including any increase being paid in respect of a qualified adult or qualified children.

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