Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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883. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of companies that have availed of the disability awareness training support scheme in each year since its inception; the amount spent on the scheme in each such year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23589/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides a range of grants and supports to assist both jobseekers with disabilities and employers (in the private sector) to take appropriate measures to enable either a potential employee or existing employee with disabilities to obtain or retain employment. These include the:

- Disability Awareness Support Scheme (DASS)

- Reasonable Accommodation Fund (RAF), which encompasses the following:

- Employee Retention Grant

- Workplace Equipment / Adaptation Grant

- Personal Reader Grant

- Job Interview Interpreter Grant

(These schemes transferred from FÁS into the Department in 2012).

The Disability Awareness Support Scheme (DASS) provides funding so that private sector employers can fund Disability Awareness Training for their employees. The purpose of the training is to deliver clear and accurate information about disability and to address questions that employers and employees may have. It is intended the training will cover, for example, general and specific information on disabilities, perceptual awareness and disability etiquette.

It is important to note that the DASS is a demand-led scheme and that funding is provided by the Department in response to the number of applications received.

Table 1:DASS – number of companies/employers and funding provided:

*Up to April 2019