Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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441. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on whether there are enough supports for a person (details supplied); if not, if additional supports will be provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19707/18]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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The Department provides a wide range of income and employment supports for people with a disability who have the capacity to work and wish to do so. The Department’s Intreo service provides employment supports for people with disabilities who wish to engage with the service on a voluntary basis. Engagement with the Intreo service and through that the EmployAbility service (see below) may help in identifying appropriate supports and services for the person concerned.

Such supports available include, for example, the Wage Subsidy Scheme, the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and the Employability service (a nationwide service, funded by and delivered on behalf of the department: that provides an employment support service for people with a health condition, injury, illness or disability and a recruitment advice service for the business community to support such jobseekers).

In addition, people who transfer to Education and Training Board (ETB) further education and training (FET) courses are paid a FET allowance of the same amount as their DA payment which is suspended for the period of training. The rules that apply to their original social welfare payment also apply to their FET training allowance. Persons with a disability will also retain any secondary benefits, while undertaking an FET intervention, such as the medical card or free travel pass.

The recently published Make Work Pay (MWP) report included a number of recommendations in relation to the disability allowance payment and in supporting people with disabilities to achieve their employment ambitions.

The Government has already implemented a number of the recommendations of the MWP report, while others will require further reflection or consultation with disability groups.

In launching the report, the Government announced that people with a long-term disability payment who move off the payment to get a job will retain their free travel pass for a period of five years. This measure goes beyond the recommendation of three years contained within the report and came effect from the launch date of 6^thApril 2017. The Government has also decided that to accept the report’s recommendation to dispense with the requirement that work be of a ‘rehabilitative nature’ for the disability allowance earnings disregard. When enacted, this will mean that a report from a doctor will no longer required before commencing work and that the focus will be on capacity rather than incapacity.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.