Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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21. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding any initiatives being implemented or under consideration by his Department to reduce barriers to employment for persons with intellectual disabilities; if any consideration has been given to a paid internship and apprenticeship model that could be tailored to an individual’s circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63451/22]

Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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22. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide details regarding any research that has been carried out by his Department into the barriers to employment for persons with intellectual disabilities; if any future research is planned in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63455/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 and 22 together.

The development of policy measures and initiatives to support disability rights and inclusion fall, primarily, under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Strategies under that Department include the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (CES) and the National Disability Inclusion Strategy. The CES is the primary disability employment policy initiative in Ireland. It is a cross-government approach, bringing together actions by Government Departments and Agencies to address the barriers and challenges to employment of persons with disabilities, including people with intellectual disabilities. I understand that work is underway and will continue throughout 2023 on the development of a third and final action plan under the CES – which is intended to guide actions under the CES to the end of the strategy in 2024.

With regard to initiatives being implemented by my Department to reduce barriers to employment for persons with intellectual disabilities, my Department has in place a Disability Consultative Committee whose role is to provide a focus for disability inclusion in respect of the policy work, schemes, and initiatives of the Department. The Committee also monitors implementation of our actions under the National Disability Inclusion and Comprehensive Employment Strategies and raises awareness of issues and initiatives around disability across the Department and its Offices and Agencies. The committee has representation from the Disability Stakeholders Group including a representative from Autism action group AsIAm.

With regard to the Agencies under the remit of my Department, all entrepreneurs can avail of Local Employment Office (LEO) training, mentoring and management development programmes. Furthermore, LEOs can provide additional support to entrepreneurs with disabilities such as one to one mentoring or accommodations to assist with the completion of grant application forms or to complete training courses such as Start Your Own Business.

Enterprise Ireland (EI) is focused on ensuring that supports for entrepreneurs and enterprise are accessible to all, including people with disabilities. There is increased awareness within EI around inclusion for people with disabilities, both physical and intellectual. EI’s online content has been adapted to make information more accessible to those with disabilities. Additionally, the office infrastructure is designed, or has been adapted, to accommodate people with intellectual and physical disabilities. EI will have one to one mentor support in place for persons with intellectual disabilities by the start of 2024.

IDA Ireland, as part of its ongoing Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiative, has added Neurodiversity as a key demographic pillar. The EDI Team has arranged training sessions to promote understanding of neurodiversity and the advantages of having neuro-diverse colleagues in the workplace.

In addition to the above, the Department of Social Protection has responsibility for labour activation measures and can provide specific supports to help people with intellectual disabilities to find and keep employment. These include the Wage Subsidy Scheme, Back to Work Enterprise Allowance and the EmployAbility service.

As an employer, my Department is also providing opportunities for young adults with an intellectual disability by participating in the Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) Programme for 2022/2023 and the Oireachtas Work Learning (OWL) programme.

WAM is a work placement programme which aims to promote access to the labour market for graduates with disabilities and build the capacity of employers to integrate disability into the mainstream workplace. Participating employers collaborate with WAM to offer mentored, paid, work placements for graduates with disabilities. Two WAM graduates commenced their 7-month work placements last summer. Graduates on this year’s Programme were eligible to participate in a new pilot confined competition for permanency, which is being run by PAS.

The OWL programme is a one year applied Learning and Development programme for ten young adults with an intellectual disability. This programme is a partnership of KARE and WALK with the Houses of the Oireachtas supported by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Public Appointments Service. KARE and WALK are two voluntary bodies that provide services and supports to adults with an intellectual disability. This programme is being developed to include other public service bodies who can offer work placements for OWL participants and employment to OWL graduates. My Department participated in the OWL programme for the first time in 2022. An OWL graduate commenced employment in May 2022, in a permanent part-time position.