Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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46. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if his Department has carried out research on schemes similar to the fit-for-work programme operating in other countries, particularly in Britain. [11842/16]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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48. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the criteria he will use to assess persons ability to work as part of the fit-for-work Programme as per the Programme for Government. [11836/16]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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49. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of places which he will provide on the fit-for-work programme and the criteria for eligibility. [11843/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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57. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will outsource the operation of the proposed fit-for-work programme to a private sector operator. [11835/16]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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61. To ask the Minister for Social Protection for further information on the fit-for-work programme as per the programme for Government. [11834/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 46, 48, 49, 57 and 61 together.

The recently agreed programme for a partnership government provides for a range of actions that are designed to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. One of these actions is a proposal for the Departments of Health and Social Protection to work together to pursue a “Fit for Work Programme” to support more people with an illness or disability to get back to work through early intervention.

The “Fit for Work” proposal is based on the findings of a pan European study, which examined the impact of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) on an individual’s ability to work. The Irish module of this study was progressed by a coalition of key stakeholders and was led by Arthritis Ireland. The Irish College of General Practitioners, ICTU, IBEC and the Health & Safety Authority also contributed to the study.

Early interventions and developing return to work practices in the case of people with musculoskeletal incapacities is consistent with my Department’s approach to illness/disability income support, which aims to reduce the number of people progressing to chronic disability and long-term social welfare dependency. To this end, my Department has in 2015, issued a set of certification guidelines for GPs, which sets out defined periods of recovery for common medical conditions, including MSDs.

The certification guidelines build on the “Renaissance project”, which is an initiative of my Department since 2003. This has shown that early intervention reduced the incidence of progression from the acute simple low back pain to chronic disability in 64% of claimants.

While specific proposals for a “Fit for Work Programme” require further development and scoping out, I would like to assure the Deputy that any such proposals will be in line with the wealth of evidence which shows that generally employment is good for one’s mental and physical health and wellbeing and, conversely, that unemployment is damaging. I would also like to assure the Deputy that proposal bears ant resemblance to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) used in the United Kingdom to determine whether people with disabilities claimants or those suffering from long-term illnesses are entitled to the main out-of-work sickness benefit scheme.