Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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407. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will ensure that the Pathways to Work strategy includes dedicated funding for disability-related transport costs, beyond the free travel scheme, to reflect additional costs faced by persons with disabilities, including those in rural areas, and to provide parity with the Access to Work (NI) scheme, which covers extra approved travel costs for disabled workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49699/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has commenced work on a successor to the current employment services strategy, Pathways to Work Strategy 2021-2015. This new strategy will aim to carry on from the success of its predecessor which has focused on removing barriers to employment, providing tens of thousands of training and education places, enhancing the Public Employment Service, providing incentives to employers to take people off the Live Register, and delivering a special package of supports for those most disadvantaged and distant from the labour force. A public consultation process on this new employment strategy was launched on the 10th of July and runs until the end of September.

Earlier this month, the Government launched the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. The strategy adopts a whole-of-Government approach with individual Government Departments and State Agencies responsible for planning and delivering the commitments that come under their remit across five key pillars. One of these, Pillar 5, covers "Transport and Mobility" and it is led by my colleague the Minister for Transport with the involvement of other relevant Departments.

A person can already retain their eligibility for the Free Travel scheme for five years, if they move from one of the following disability payments into work: Disability Allowance; Invalidity Pension; or Disablement Benefit paid along with Incapacity Supplement or Partial Capacity Benefit from Invalidity Pension.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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408. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will consider funding and resourcing a national umbrella organisation for supported employment, to provide staff training, best practice standards, policy development and coordination between supported employment service providers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49700/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is committed to working to remove barriers to employment for people with disabilities. The Intreo Employment Service (ES) provide a wide range of supports to assist jobseekers, including those with a disability, to find work. Intreo ES also provides recruitment advice and support for employers including information on recruitment and retention incentives.

Intreo ES offers a targeted but voluntary employment support service for people in receipt of a disability payment. This is an individualised service which includes advice on jobseeking, access to further education, training supports and referrals to employment support schemes. Intreo ES has recently expanded the provision of this service by ensuring that there is a Designated Disability Employment Personal Advisor (DDEPA) in each of the 62 Intreo Offices nationwide.

The Employability service is open to all people with disabilities including those recovering from injury or illness, aged between 18 and 65 who are jobready, eager to enter or return to the workplace and need the support of a Job Coach. The Employability service is now delivered nationwide across 23 Employability service locations. Employability sits within the Department’s existing framework of employment supports for people with disabilities and aligns with broader national strategies aimed at improving their participation and opportunities in the workforce.

My Department’s Employer Relations team also provides a range of supports and incentives to employers to recruit people with disabilities. Locally based Employer Relations Officers engage with employers to identify potential candidates for paid positions and traineeships. Recruitment events are regularly arranged at which potential employees can meet with employers to discuss opportunities.

The Department also encourages employers to sign up to the Employment and Youth Engagement Charter, a call to action for employers to commit to working with people with disabilities and other priority groups to build their knowledge, skills and experience to enhance their employability. To date, over 260 employers have signed up to the Charter commitments.

In July 2024, my Department launched a new scheme called Work and Access. This scheme offers seven supports to improve access in the workplace for people with a disability. Funding is available for communication supports, work equipment, workplace adaptations and training. Jobseekers, employees, self-employed people and employers may apply for supports both for the business premises and remote workplaces. In June 2025, I formally launched a reformed wage subsidy scheme together with the Taoiseach, Minister Foley and Minister of State Naughton. This scheme provides financial incentives for employers to employ a person with a disability.

People with disabilities can also avail of a range of employment support schemes like Work Placement Experience Programme, Community Employment, Tús, Jobsplus, Back to Education Allowance and Back to Work Enterprise Allowance.

Notwithstanding these improvements, the Government recognises that more must be done to support disabled people into employment. In the Programme for Government and the recently launched National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, my Department commits to a number of priority actions to support people with disabilities to obtain or retain employment. These include, among others, media campaigns to increase awareness of supports, a review of the minimum hours requirement and examination of the payment rate for the Wage Subsidy Scheme and an expansion of successful programmes like WorkAbility, EmployAbility and Work and Access. We will advance those commitments over the lifetime of the Government and in light of available resources.

Any new initiative such as that proposed by the Deputy would sit within the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality.

I trust that this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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409. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will consider making the wage subsidy scheme more flexible by reducing the current minimum requirement of 15 hours per week, to enable persons with disabilities who may only be able to work fewer hours to avail of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49831/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Wage Subsidy Scheme is a key disability employment support. It aims to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to disabled people through a subsidy.

Last year, my Department published a review of the Wage Subsidy Scheme. In April 2024, based on the findings of that review, the minimum required hours for the scheme was reduced from 21 hours per week to 15 hours per week.

This change sought to make the scheme more accessible and flexible to disabled people. However, it also sought to ensure that the Wage Subsidy Scheme maintains its key aim to encourage employers to provide substantial and meaningful work to disabled people.

In August 2025, the percentage of employees working the maximum hours of 39 was 36% while those working the minimum hours of 15 accounted for 6%. The average hours worked by employees on the Wage Subsidy Scheme is 29.4 hours.

The scheme needs to operate with the new 15-hour minimum requirement for a period before my Department can assess the impact this change has had on the scheme. This reduced requirement has been in place for slightly more than a year. Once a sufficient period of time has passed, I have asked my officials to conduct an analysis on the recent reduction in hours in a timely manner. This analysis will inform any further reduction in the minimum hours.

I trust that this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.