Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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257. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will outline the criteria by which those with disabilities, who apply for positions under the disability-specific schemes such as WAM, are assessed; what information applicants have to supply to outline their disability in their application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54087/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Anyone in receipt of Disability Allowance, Blind Pension or Partial Capacity Benefit is considered to meet the disability criteria for any of my Department’s schemes to support the employment of disabled people – Work and Access, Wage Subsidy Scheme, Employability, WorkAbility, and the WAM programme. Each scheme or support has different criteria for people who are not in receipt of a disability payment.

To access Work and Access supports, a person must have a disability or health condition that presents a need for the job seeker, employee, or self-employed person, to be supported for interview or work or both. The disability or health condition should be likely to last longer than 12 months. The person must be getting a long-term disability payment or be able to provide professional evidence confirming the disability/health condition and that it is likely to last longer than 12 months.

The Employability service is open to all people with disabilities including those recovering from injury or illness, aged between 18 and 65 and who are job ready, eager to enter or return to the workplace and need the support of a Job Coach.

Under the WorkAbility Programme co-funded with the Employment, Inclusion, Skills and Training programme, participants with a disability are defined as persons with long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments, which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. It is optional for participants to disclose the particular conditions they have. However, they must sign a participant registration form to confirm that they have any one of the long-lasting conditions from a specified list or if they encounter difficulties performing activities from a list. I have asked my officials to send both of these lists to the Deputy.

The Willing Able Mentoring or WAM programme is run by AHEAD. It is a work placement programme which aims to promote access to the labour market for graduates with disabilities and to build the capacity of employers to integrate disability into the mainstream workplace. Prospective participants in the WAM programme self-identify as disabled in order to register for the WAM Graduate Database and share the categories of their disability to AHEAD as part of the registration process. Successful candidates undergo a Needs Assessment Process which explores the functional impact of disability in a the context of the job demands and environment.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.