Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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1265.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of a €1 increase to the €6.30 subsidy paid as part of the wage subsidy scheme for people with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31571/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department offers a suite of supports specifically aimed at supporting disabled people into employment. These include supports such EmployAbility, Early Engagement, JobsPlus and the Wage Subsidy Scheme.

The Wage Subsidy Scheme is an employment support to private sector employers to encourage the employment of people with disabilities in the open labour market. The financial supports for employers are structured under three separate strands depending on the number of employees with a disability supported by the subsidy.

As part of Budget 2022, I increased the base subsidy rate to €6.30 per hour. This gives a total annual subsidy available of €12,776 based on a 39-hour week. The maximum subsidy rate under Strand II is €9.45 per hour, giving a total subsidy of €19,164.60 per year. Estimated expenditure on the Wage Subsidy Scheme in 2024 is €25 million.

My department is currently undertaking a review of the Wage Subsidy Scheme under the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for people with Disabilities. As part of this review, an extensive public consultation was undertaken with over 1,000 responses received. I expect the review to be finalised over the coming weeks.

The cost of increasing the base Wage Subsidy Scheme rate to €7.30 per hour would be approximately an additional €4 million. The maximum rate would increase to €10.95 per hour where an employer has 23+ employees.

• The above costing is based on the numbers currently on Wage Subsidy Scheme and includes potential Strand II and Strand III top-ups. There are currently some 1,504 employers availing of the subsidy in respect of some 2,437 participant employees.
• This costing takes no account of potential inflows to the scheme where, as a result of behavioural impacts, more employers might avail of the subsidy/employ more people with disabilities due to the subsidy increase.
• Any proposals to increase the rate for the Wage Subsidy Scheme would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.