Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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526. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 305 of 25 September 2025, the means by which these programmes are increasing the participation rate, particularly as Ireland ranks last in the EU for participation of persons with disabilities in the workplace; the targets over the next five years to show progress in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57042/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Under the EU-Survey on Income and Living Conditions, the EU-20 average disability employment gap is 20.2 percentage points; however due to the methodology used, it is difficult to make cross-country comparisons with accuracy.

Based on Census 2022, Ireland’s employment rate for people with disabilities was 49%, resulting in a disability employment gap of 22 percentage points. The National Disability Authority has advised that a change of question in the national census between 2016 and 2022 makes it impossible to compare data and that going forward, we should use 2022 data.

Nevertheless, the Government acknowledges that the disability employment gap is to wide and we are working to narrowing it. My Department provides a range of programmes and schemes to enable access to the workplace for disabled people, with the aim of increasing the employment participation rate of disabled people.

My Department's Intreo service is a single point of contact for all employment and income supports in the State. Disabled people can access mainstream employment schemes such as Community Employment and Tús as well as referral to tailored supports such as Employability, a service that offers a professional job-matching service, on-going support and advice and information on employment supports for disabled people.

Disabled people can make an appointment to meet with a Designated Disability Employment Personal Advisor to discuss employment and training options. There is now a Designated Disability Employment Personal Advisor in each of the 62 Intreo offices nationwide.

As stated previously in response to the Parliamentary Question to which the Deputy refers, the Workability programme, co-financed with the EU Employment, Inclusion, Skills, and Training Programme was established in 2024 by my Department. As of the 1st of September 2025, 4,005 people have engaged with 57 local, regional and national projects. 888 participants have exited the WorkAbility Programme with 318 participants finding employment and 134 participants commencing training. Its target is to support 13,000 disabled people into employment through these projects over its five-year lifetime.

In July 2022, my Department launched Early Engagement. The scheme aims to proactively engage with young disabled people or those in the early stages of disability or illness about options for education, training or employment. Over 35,000 people have been contacted and over 4,500 referrals have been made for further education or employment supports since the scheme launched.

Launched in 2024, the new Work and Access scheme addresses barriers to the workplace for disabled people, to increase the employment participation rate. Seven supports are available for disabled people and their employers including job coaches, work equipment, communication support and training. Supports are available for both the business premises and remote workplaces.

The Wage Subsidy Scheme supports employers to hire disabled people through a subsidy. In August 2024, my Department published a review of the scheme to make it more accessible and flexible. As a result, the minimum hours for the scheme were reduced from 21 to 15 hours. The scheme was expanded to those on Partial Capacity Benefit and to the community and voluntary sector.

An additional €3.7 million has been allocated to the scheme. In June this year, we launched the revamped scheme. A media campaign to raise awareness of this very beneficial scheme for employers and employees followed the launch. It is hoped that the implementation of the recommendations of the review will result in an expansion of the scheme.

Budget 2026 has provided for a further expansion to people who acquire a disability while in employment and to those who transfer from Invalidity Pension to Partial Capacity Benefit and provided for an increase in the subsidy rates.

My Department is committed to supporting disabled people into work and the Government recognises that more needs to be done to increase the employment participation rate. The Programme for Government commits to expanding successful programmes like WorkAbility and Work and Access and to work with employers and across Government to improve employment of disabled people, with a goal of reaching at least the EU average.

These commitments will be advanced over the lifetime of the Government in light of the prevailing policy and budgetary context.

I trust this clarifies the position of the Deputy.