Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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172. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will report on his engagement to encourage employers to utilise the wage subsidy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32901/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Improving the lives of disabled people is a priority for the Government. A key element of this is to provide pathways to employment, and the Wage Subsidy Scheme facilitates this by encouraging employers to employ people with a disability through a subsidy.The Deputy may be aware that at the recent launch of the updated Wage Subsidy Scheme I was joined by An Taoiseach and also by my colleagues Minister Foley and Minister of State Naughton, as well as by a wide range of employers and employees who are availing of the scheme. At the same event I was delighted to launch a national information campaign on the Wage Subsidy Scheme; the Deputy will have heard the advertisements in the national media over the last number of weeks.My Department produces a very useful guide to Employer Services and Supports, which sets out the benefits of the Wage Subsidy Scheme, and explains how to avail of it. This guide is available both as a leaflet which is available at Department offices and at our employer events, and as an online resource.As well as promotional events, the Employer Relations team in my Department engages locally with employers to encourage use of all the Department's schemes, including the Wage Subsidy Scheme. Finally, my Department engages with employers and employer representative bodies to identify possible improvements in the administrative procedures around the Wage Subsidy Scheme, so as to make it as easy as possible for employers to avail of the scheme.