Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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166. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the action she has taken to improve supports for disabled entrepreneurs and self-employed people. [28233/26]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is committed to supporting all disabled people to access and progress within their chosen career paths, including those that involve self-employment and entrepreneurship.

The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 sets out a coordinated whole-of-government approach to progressively advance the rights of disabled people across several key policy areas, including education, employment, independent living, health, mobility and transport.

In line with the mainstream first approach set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the collaborative cross-government framework of the Strategy, several Government departments and relevant public bodies are leading on the delivery of the commitments and priority actions that lie within their respective remits.

My colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is leading on the implementation of a significant priority action to promote inclusion and accessibility in entrepreneurship through the Local Enterprise Offices. This action involves the adaption of content and delivery methods, as well as standardised training tailored to meet the needs of disabled clients. A further commitment under the Employment Pillar that is being progressed by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is the development of effective employer outreach initiatives and measures aimed at supporting employers to hire and progress the careers of disabled people throughout the private sector.

The Employment Pillar also advances a wide range of actions that aim to provide the right supports at the right time for disabled people to access work or return to work. My colleague, the Minister for Social Protection is leading on the delivery of several actions under this pillar, including the expansion of already existing programmes (WorkAbility, Employability and the Work and Access Programme) and increasing the number of Dedicated Disability Employment Advisors that can offer the appropriate level of support to disabled jobseekers. Other actions will focus on removing disincentives to employment, these include reforming the Disability Allowance payment and reviewing the retention of secondary benefits in cases where disabled people take up employment.

Taken collectively, the commitments and priority actions under both the Education and Employment pillars of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, aim to address the barriers faced by disabled people in accessing suitable and meaningful employment and progressing within their chosen career paths.

The Strategy will be delivered across three two-year Programme Plans of Actions. The First Programme Plan of Actions 2025-2026 was published in December 2025 and it outlines the Key Performance Indicators and the individual government departments and state agencies responsible for planning and delivering the commitments that come under their remit across all of its five pillars.

I look forward to working with colleagues across government in delivering on these commitments and priority actions over the coming year and throughout the lifetime of this Strategy.