2026-06-18

9. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide an update on the wage subsidy scheme, and any incentives to support employers taking on employees with intellectual disabilities. [46367/26]

On behalf of Deputy Malcolm Byrne, I ask the Minister to give us an update on the workings of the wage subsidy scheme and any other initiatives that are available to employers and those who have intellectual disabilities and need employment. I believe there is scope to improve the wage subsidy scheme, to include others and to encourage employers to participate more fully.

I thank Deputy McGuinness for raising this matter. Supporting disabled people and reducing the disability employment gap are key priorities for me. The wage subsidy scheme is the key disability employment support provided by my Department. It aims to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to disabled people through a subsidy. In 2024, the Department published a review of the wage subsidy scheme following a public consultation. We aimed to make the scheme more accessible and more flexible. As a result, the minimum hours were reduced from 21 hours per week to 15 and the scheme was expanded to the community and voluntary sector and the non-commercial semi-State sector. In addition, we changed the language of the scheme to align with the social model of disability. One of the recommendations made was to regularly review the subsidy rate. The national human rights strategy for disabled people also includes a commitment to examine an increase in the subsidy rate. The rate was reviewed in the context of budget 2026. As a result, the number of bands was reduced and the subsidy rates were increased. The base wage subsidy paid to employers who employ disabled people is now €7.50 per hour, an increase from €6.30. Employers who employ 25 or more employees on the wage subsidy scheme can still avail of a grant of €30,000 towards the cost of employing an employment assistance officer. Budget 2026 also provided for the expansion of the scheme to those who acquire a disability while in employment, those who have a progressive or degenerative condition that worsens, and those who transfer from invalidity pension to partial capacity benefit. We hope these changes encourage more employers to hire more disabled people to increase uptake of the scheme and I am engaging with employer organisations to this end. Later this morning, I will attend the Light the Way event hosted by MrPRICE, one of our leading providers of employment for disabled people that work with the wage subsidy scheme. I have also made administrative changes to the wage subsidy scheme to centralise processing to ensure a more consistent and quicker service for those employers that are in receipt of a subsidy under the scheme.

Does the Minister believe enough is being done to inform employers of the scheme, its benefits and how it assists both employers and those who have an intellectual disability? Does more need to be done to promote the scheme? I come across a lot of people who have intellectual disabilities or acquired disabilities who would like to return to the workforce to do some work and whose health would benefit from being involved in the workforce and working a meaningful number of hours per week. If more was done to promote and expand the scheme, perhaps working with family resource centres and organisations like Talking Heads in Carlow, more employers would take up the scheme. There are plenty of people in the disability sector who would be willing to engage.

I completely agree with the Deputy. Last year, we ran an overall information campaign about the wage subsidy scheme. This involved normal advertising. It led to a very small increase. We met on this issue this week. I intend to target chambers of commerce, which have a very direct connection to local businesses. Many national businesses support and use the programme. I want to see more local businesses involved because local visibility is important. I will certainly expand our outreach to include family resource centres. If any Deputy would like to suggest organisations that have a local reach and that can get us into local businesses, I am more than happy to work with them. We will be engaging. We are setting up meetings with local business organisations. We deal with the employer organisations on this matter. I want to involve organisations that have more local connections to employers and that can engage with them. I acknowledge the many local employers who do excellent work on this. As a Department, we will be running a themed week in October, work and skills week. This will look at the employment vacancies that are available and matching those with disabilities to those vacancies. Any employer that does not engage with the wage subsidy scheme is missing out on a really talented bunch of people.

I encourage the Department to have an open day where employers can come and meet those who have a disability or those with an acquired disability to see how they can match those who want work with their companies. There are many organisations that are now funded to prepare young people in particular but anybody who is disabled or intellectually disabled to encourage them back into the workforce and to give them the tools necessary to contribute to that work. The employers do not see enough of that interaction and enough of what is available to them from this whole disability sector. I refer to the Talking Heads organisation in Carlow and Kilkenny and to those with acquired brain injuries and disabilities. Much more needs to be done to give them the opportunity to come back into the workforce. They have something to contribute.

Again, I do not disagree. We have a designated employment personal adviser in the 62 Intreo offices nationwide for disabled people to meet and discuss employment options. I have changed the work and access scheme. The work and access scheme offers seven different supports to facilitate those with disabilities in the workforce. I changed it to include assistive technology, which is a new thing. In May 2026, there were 1,568 employers supporting 2,621 employees through the wage subsidy scheme. That is not enough. We have the worst disability employment gap in Europe. I am determined to address it and make changes to address it. It will also be a key part of my priorities during the European Presidency, as to how we can learn from Europe. There may be areas that Europe can learn from us in the context of reducing this gap.