Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I very much agree with the Deputy on the importance which freely chosen employment has for the well-being and economic status of people with disabilities.

The Programme for Government contains specific undertakings designed to assist persons with disabilities to participate fully in our workforce. These include:

• Developing a Code of Practice to support the hiring of workers with a disability.
• Working with employers and across Government to improve the employment of people with disabilities and ensure that supports for entrepreneurs and enterprise are accessible to all, including people with disabilities with a goal of reaching at least the EU average.
• Ensuring that citizens with disabilities can access employment on an equal basis to others by focussing on building skills, capacity and independence, and developing bridges from special schools into employment.
• Continuing to ensure employers make reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities in the workplace.

I am fully committed to this agenda and during my first week as a Minister I directed work to begin on the design of a voluntary Code of Practice to support the hiring of workers with a disability. Some businesses and state agencies already have some form of best practice procedures, and this is to be applauded. I do believe that there is also a role for a Code which will have a particular focus on neurodiversity, learning from excellent examples already being applied in various private sector settings. Engagement with stakeholders on this has already commenced and I look forward to the results of this work.

My Department engages both with employers and employer bodies to foster positive attitudes towards the employment of people with disabilities. It is also currently collaborating in the development of the upcoming National Disability Strategy. The draft strategy has five pillars, connected to various areas of life, and my Department and the Department of Social Protection together form the Employment Pillar. As part of that Strategy, which is being led by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality my Department will continue to facilitate ongoing dialogue between disabled person's organisations and employer representatives to support the employment of people with disabilities.

It is hoped that these dialogue processes will also enable a better understanding of employers' legal obligations to provide reasonable accommodations to worker and job candidates with disabilities.

The specific commitments which my Department will have in this regard will be contained in the National Disability Strategy once it is finalised and approved by Government.