Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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728. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to outline the work being undertaken in his Department to increase access to employment for disabled people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20282/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment I consider that increasing the numbers of people with disabilities participating in the labour market represents a significant opportunity for employers and the enterprise sector.

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. Officials from my Department are currently represented at senior level on the development of the new National Disability Strategy which is a key priority for this Government to develop a range of actions to promote the inclusion of people with a disability in the workforce.

In terms of specific employment supports and grants provided by Government, my colleague the Minister for Social Protection, plays the lead role, supporting jobseekers, existing employees with disabilities, and private sector employers seeking to hire or retain a person with a disability. Under the Reasonable Accommodation Fund, that department can help employers and employees with a disability to take appropriate measures to help a person with a disability to access, improve or retain their employment by providing specific grant aid to employers and employees and disability awareness supports which offer funding to private sector employers to provide Disability Awareness Training for staff who work with a colleague who has a disability.

Agencies under the remit of my Department have a number of initiatives in place to help encourage employers to employ persons with disabilities.

The IDA launched an initiative Widening the Talant Pool where the IDA connect client companies with appropriate organisations that offer different opportunities to under-represented potential employees including those with disabilities.

Both Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices work to ensure that its entrepreneurial, mentoring and capability supports are available to all emerging entrepreneurs, including people with a disability. They have backed entrepreneurs and companies led by people with a disability, and companies and entrepreneurs providing innovative solutions for people with a disability.

EI and the LEOs are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. They have a range of specific programmes and initiatives to increase labour market participation and entrepreneurship among people with a disability which include: Promotion of Entrepreneurship for People with Disabilities. The LEO network have partnered with Technological University, Dublin (TUD) to host and deliver a new online course 'Entrepreneurship for People with Disabilities'. 20 places are available on the programme which consists of 12 two-hour lectures delivered online. This programme is open to anyone who self-identifies as having a disability and wishes to start their own business. This initiative was co-founded and supported by the Open Doors Initiative.

In addition, TU Dublin have developed a set of online resources regarding Entrepreneurship for Persons with Disabilities which will include an eLearning module. This is available across the LEO network and includes a dedicated webpage for persons with disabilities who have intentions for setting-up a business or who are already in self-employment to access a suite of learning resources designed by Technological University Dublin and also links to additional sources of assistance.

The LEOs have engaged Open Doors to provide Disability Awareness training for LEO staff. The objective of this training includes raising disability awareness within the LEOs, broadening staff understanding of disability beyond visible disabilities, exploring the barriers faced by people with disabilities in a work context and providing guidance on supporting a service user with a disability.

I would encourage any person with a disability who would like to explore self-employment to approach their Local Enterprise Office to learn what supports are available to them and their business. The LEO Start Your Own Business (SYOB) programme is available to anyone exploring self-employment as an option, The SYOB programme guides clients through the various aspects of business and business planning. Reasonable accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis for people accessing any of the LEO programmes.

Enterprise Ireland have co-signed a partnership agreement with Open Doors to provides opportunities to some of the marginalised members of society, including persons with a disability. EI has provided mentors for five Open Doors Mentoring programmes since January 2023 which have been a great success for both participants and mentors.

EI recently completed Disability Awareness Training workshops with Employers for Change. In the coming months EI intend to use this partnership to progress the establishment of a work placement programme for persons from marginalised communities, including people with a disability.

Enterprise Ireland also have plans, working in partnership with Open Doors, to develop awareness campaigns and programmes that will utilise success stories of self-employed and entrepreneur role models with a variety of disabilities.

In terms of the workforce of my own Department, and in line with the Government commitment to increase the percentage of employing people with a disability in the public sector to 6% by 2025, the Department has reached a level of 6.24%.

My Department has in place a dedicated Disability Liaison Officer who acts as a proactive contact for staff with disabilities, to assist and support them, and to assist in the implementation of best Human Resource practices in line with equality legislation. My Department is also participating in the Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) and the Oireachtas Work Learning (OWL) programmes.

Public Jobs piloted a permanent pathway competition confined to WAM graduates in 2022 and also ran another competition in 2023. My Department has appointed 3 WAM graduates to permanent positions as a direct result of these permanent pathway competitions. My Department will participate again in the WAM Programme for 2025/2026 with 3 graduates who will undertake work placements and will become eligible to participate in the next permanent pathway competition.

My Department also places a focus on learning and development opportunities that support people with disabilities in the workplace. My Department is a JAM Card friendly organisation since July 2024 with over 80% of staff having completed the JAM Card e-training.

More generally, the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 come under the responsibility of my Department. The Acts place obligations on employers to take reasonable steps to accommodate the needs of employees and job applicants with disabilities. Denial of reasonable accommodation under the Acts can be a cause for action and may amount to discrimination on disability grounds. The Workplace Relations Commissions (WRC) deals with all complaints of discrimination, not limited to workplace complaints, made under the Equality Acts.