Written answers
Tuesday, 3 October 2023
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Departmental Policies
Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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384. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection what assistance is available to cover interpreter costs for a deaf employee, as the employee is currently only able to work two days out of five in the office due to the financial burden of interpreter services on her employer; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42671/23]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides a wide range of supports for jobseekers and existing employees with disabilities. These supports include the Reasonable Accommodation Fund.
The Reasonable Accommodation Fund includes four grants which were designed to assist jobseekers and existing employees with disabilities, and to encourage employers in the private sector to recruit jobseekers with disabilities. These include:
- The Job Interview Interpreter Grant provides funding for a sign language interpreter or other interpreter to attend interviews for a jobseeker who is deaf, hard of hearing or has speech impairment. The amount of the grant payable is based on an hourly fee paid which may vary. There is no limit to the number of interviews a person can attend with an interpreter.
- Workplace Equipment/Adaptation Grant, where a maximum of €6,350 can be given towards the cost of adaptations to premises or equipment. Applications in excess of this sum are considered on an individual basis up to a maximum of €9,523 if specialist training for assistive technology is required.
- Employee Retention Grant is available to assist employers to retain employees who acquire a disability. The grant provides funding to identify accommodation and/or training needs to enable the employee to remain in his/her current position. Funding varies from a maximum of €2,500 or 90% of eligible programme costs to fund an occupational capacity and workplace job assessment or to a maximum of €12,500 or 90% of eligible programme costs for training and job coach support.
My Department has recently published a review of the Reasonable Accommodation Fund. The review made a number of recommendations, including that the number of interpreter hours eligible for funding would be increased and that the scheme would be opened up to other employers, for example the voluntary and community sector. Work on implementation of these recommendations is underway and it is hoped to launch a reformed scheme in Q1 2024.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
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