Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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249. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the measures being taken to increase the opportunities for people with disabilities to enter the labour force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22247/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister of State with Responsibility for Disability, I am committed to removing the barriers faced by people with disabilities in accessing employment. My Department plays a significant coordination role in this regard through the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (CES).

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. The CES’s strategic priorities are to build skills, capacity and independence, to provide bridges and supports into work, to make work pay, to promote job retention and re-entry to work, to provide coordinated and seamless supports and to engage employers.

Through the CES, my Department has progressed a range of actions to improve access to employment for people with disabilities. For example, the Disability Act 2005, as amended by the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022 and commenced on April 26 of this year, has doubled the previous target for the employment of people with disabilities in the public service from 3% to 6% by 2025. Compliance with this target is monitored and reported on by the National Disability Authority annually in a report submitted to Government.

Under the CES framework, my Department plays a coordination role in ensuring that disability measures are coherent and integrated, with specific actions continuing to be the responsibility of the relevant Departments and agencies. This is keeping with Ireland’s long-standing ‘mainstream-first’ approach to disability policy.

In terms of specific employment supports and grants provided by Government to promote and facilitate the employment of people with disabilities, the Department of Social Protection, through the Reasonable Accommodation Fund, supports jobseekers, existing employees with disabilities, and private sector employers seeking to hire or retain a person with a disability.

The Reasonable Accommodation Fund is being reviewed, as per commitments under the CES. The review aims to improve the effectiveness of the support provided, identify gaps in provision, and improve application and payment processes. In Budget 2023, an additional €1 million in funding was announced by the Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys T.D., to expand the provision made under the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and to support the recommendations from the forthcoming review.

In addition to this and whilst not directly targeted at persons with disabilities, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment also provides supports to employers, including self-employed people, through their network of Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs).

My officials will continue to work and engage with counterparts in other department, through the CES and bilaterally, to explore how the State can continue to support people with disabilities who seek to enter into the workforce.