Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

283. To ask the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 301 and 330 of 24 May 2016, the average waiting time for a person with a disability to meet a job coach in the employability services and how this compares to the average waiting time for a person without a disability getting a quality offer of a job, an apprenticeship or a placement. [15324/16]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

289. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of providing an additional 1,000 places to increase the capacity of the employability services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15382/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 283 and 289 together.

The EmployAbility programme is a national employment service dedicated to improving employment outcomes for job seekers with a disability. EmployAbility participants are people with a disability, which can range from physical to mental health, who are able to work a minimum of 8 hours per week and who need the support of a job coach to obtain employment in the open labour market. The duration of the service is 18 months. The budget for 2016 provides €9.6 million to run the service.

The EmployAbility service currently comprises 23 limited companies, each with a specific geographical remit, so the demand for the service varies from region to region. Data from 2015 shows that the average number of weeks that a person was waiting for a place on the service was 10 weeks.

The data requested by the Deputy in relation to persons without a disability are not collected by my Department. The Department’s mainstream employment support service is provided through Intreo, which delivers a personalised service to clients in accessing job opportunities and availing of supports to enable them to get back to work at the earliest possible opportunity. Persons on disability payments can avail of this service on a voluntary basis, where they may be referred to the EmployAbility service where appropriate.

The average cost of providing support through the EmployAbility service is €2,900 per customer, so if the service was expanded to support an additional 1,000 customers, the estimated additional annual cost would be €2.9 million.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.