James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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17. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on developing an individual placement and support model of supported employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18664/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Government recognises the need for the social protection system to provide flexible and effective supports for persons who encounter mental health difficulties. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a model of supported employment that facilitates people with mental health difficulties to move into mainstream, open labour market employment. Under the IPS model, a person is viewed as capable of undertaking competitive paid employment, if a suitable work setting can be found and appropriate supports provided. This approach provides a useful addition to the range of employment supports for persons with disabilities provided by my Department. The Department has recently participated as a partner organisation in the Integrating Employment and Mental Health Service (IEMHS) IPS pilot project, led by the HSE which ran between 2015 and 2017.

The aim of this project was to demonstrate how the existing HSE and Employability service could practice the IPS model for clients with severe and enduring mental health issues.

An evaluation report, Steps into Work, was published on the 8th February last and found that through improved cooperation between mental health services and employment support services, improvements could be achieved in the health and employment outcomes of people with mental health difficulties.

My Department is now collaborating with the HSE and the EmployAbility service to extend this pilot programme on a nationwide basis in partnership to enable employment specialists to be put in place across the country.

I look forward to seeing the results of this interagency collaboration specifically in terms of better health and employment outcomes for persons with mental health difficulties.