Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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372. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated additional cost of increasing the earnings disregard for the disability allowance by €10, €50 and €100, respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36454/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Disability Allowance (DA) is a means-tested payment for people with a specified disability who are aged between 16 and 66. The disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and a habitual residency test.

DA is structured to support recipients to avail of opportunities to pursue their own employment ambitions, be that self-employment or in insurable employment. When an individual commences employment, they can avail of an income disregard of €140 per week. In addition, a 50% taper on earnings between €140 and €350 is also applied (disregarded), for the purpose of the means test.

The ESRI SWITCH microsimulation model has been used for the purposes of the estimate requested.The additional cost of increasing the upper limit of the earnings disregard for the disability allowance from €350 in increments of €10, €50 and €100 respectively are set out in tabular form below.

It is important to note that SWITCH is a tax-benefit microsimulation developed by the ESRI. It provides estimatesof full-year policy changes, using data from the CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions. These estimates are based on current Disability Allowance recipients. As Disability Allowance is a comparatively small scheme in terms of recipients, there may be issues around sample size when running costings. SWITCH cannot predict changes in behaviour (including increased take-up of employment). It should be noted that increased disregards may in fact increase the number of eligible recipients, and therefore, increase the overall Disability Allowance expenditure.

Table: Disability Allowance Disregard Upper Limit Increase from €350.00 in increments of €10.00, €50.00 and €100.00.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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373. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the maximum period a person with a disability can spend with the EmployAbility service; the estimated additional cost of increasing the duration of participation with the EmployAbility service by one week, one month and three months, respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36455/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department’s EmployAbility service is delivered under contract by 24 companies and the combined value of the 12-month contracts for 2021 is just over €10m. The service has an average active caseload at any one time of approximately 3,100 clients and those contracted to deliver the service employ the equivalent of 172 full time staff, of whom 127 are job coaches.

While the EmployAbility service operates an 18-month support programme, many exit the service earlier. These clients may have been placed in employment, in training or other placement that is not in the open labour market, such as TÚS or CE. Clients also exit because of personal reasons e.g. ill health.

At the end of the 18-month duration of the programme, clients must exit the Employability service and may be referred onto other services at that point.

The service aims to have a caseload of 25:1 that includes the provision of dedicated job coach support as well as both pre-employment and in employment supports and assistance.

Increasing the 18-month support programme would have a bearing on the client/job coach ratio and may also require the employment of additional job coaches. The number of additional referrals would be a matter of contract negotiation with a successful contractor and it would be for the contractor to determine the number of Job Coaches to be employed in order to deliver the service as contracted and in line with the current 25:1 ratio. The cost of expanding the numbers of referrals for each particular contractor would also be a matter for negotiation on an individual contract basis.

For the moment the timelines, capacity and costs of the service are as set out in each contract, and the additional costs associated with an extension of the timelines as suggested by the Deputy would require individual negotiation with each service provider at the time of contact award.