2026-02-19

9. Deputy Edward Timmins asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the steps being taken to increase the very low participation rate for persons with disabilities in the labour market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13377/26]

Employment opportunities are vital for the well-being of our population. This Government and the previous ones since 2011 have had remarkable success in giving our people employment opportunities. However, we have one of the lowest participation rates in the western world for people with disabilities at 32%. What actions are being taken to increase this number?

I thank the Deputy for his question. The Government continues to support workers throughout their careers with initiatives to improve work-life balance and flexible working arrangements, which encourages greater labour market participation including the participation of people with disabilities, resulting in greater diversity and inclusion within our workforce. The Government has a wide range of supports in place to assist people. For example, through the Department of Social Protection's Intreo centres, disabled people can access mainstream employment opportunities and employment schemes as well as referrals to tailored supports, such as EmployAbility, which is a service that offers a professional job matching service and ongoing supports and advice. I also point to the wage subsidy scheme, which offers employers a financial incentive in hiring disabled people. Budget 2026 recently provided for an expansion of the scheme to people who acquire a disability while in employment and to those who transfer from invalidity pension to partial capacity benefit. In April 2026, the subsidy rate will also increase. My Department is co-lead of the employment pillar in the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which was launched in September last year. The ambition of the employment pillar of the strategy is to substantially reduce the employment gap between disabled people and others who are in employment and to enhance the opportunities for disabled people who can earn a living that they can do so. The central commitment for my Department is to establish a ministerial-led forum on disability employment as a subgroup of the Department's enterprise forum. This forum will be issue driven and serve as a means of progressing how best to support employers to employ people with a disability, including addressing the perceived obstacles from an employers' perspective and covering issues, such as cost, productivity and legal concerns. The forum would also be a means of raising awareness among employers of the benefits of employing a person with a disability.

I thank the Minister of State. I commend him on those actions. However, what is missing here are some of the numbers as this hides the scale of the problem. These figures can never be totally accurate as people tend not to disclose due to stigma or fear of discrimination or may answer differently depending on who is asking the questions. Based on labour survey data, there were 181,700 people with disabilities in employment in 2024. With a 32% employment rate for persons with disabilities in Ireland, this potentially means that there are 386,000 unemployed persons with disabilities. Based on these figures, Intreo centres need to engage with these unemployed people. Even by contacting 35,000 in early engagement, this is only 10% of the total. While activities are occurring, these are not even close to making a dent in the unemployment numbers.

I strongly the support the question raised by my colleague. It is critical that we enhance opportunities for those with a disability. I particularly encourage a further examination of the wage subsidy scheme. The Government made a significant increase in the context of budget 2026. Although it does not come into effect until the beginning of April, it could be considered in the budgetary process for 2027. For instance, a company like Murphy Furniture based in Tinahely, which has a number of stores operating right throughout south Leinster, employs a significant number of people with intellectual disabilities and who are neurodivergent. It is a challenge because companies have to adapt their operations in some of those cases. Something like the wage subsidy scheme is critical but there are costs involved. In the context of the budgetary discussions with the Department of Social Protection, I encourage the Minister of State to address this as well.

I thank both Deputies for raising these important matters. I absolutely share the concerns they have raised and about how long change has taken in this area. I want to underline that we are finally moving from language to implementation. Through the reporting and monitoring implementation group chaired by the Taoiseach, he wants to see the pillar around employment progress. As I said earlier, we have an employment gap between those who are disabled in employment and those who are not. At the most recent Fine Gael disability network conference, it was very apparent that we need to engage more with employer representative bodies to try to engage better with them to see what the perceived barriers are but also to ensure the likes of the wage subsidy scheme are refined to meet the needs of those who can avail of it. The 15-hour threshold is a bit of a challenge. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, has been informed about that. It is something we could use into the future.

I compliment the Minister of State on the very successful disability conference that was held in Galway a couple of weeks ago. What is the Government doing to upskill people across the board in recruitment and employment services? These are the people who find the people with disabilities and put them into jobs. There are potentially over 100,000 people available to work who could be living more fulfilling lives and contributing to the tax base but who are now unemployed, with many receiving social welfare payments at a cost to the country when that is not necessary. We are not being fair to these people and giving them the opportunity to succeed. Having these programmes is great but I do not see their impact or their targets. How are these programmes increasing the participation rate, particularly as Ireland ranks lowest in the EU for the participation of persons with disabilities in the workplace? What are the targets to show progress in this area over the next five years?

Many of us have spoken in here about the low level of employment among those with disabilities. I get that, to a large degree and particularly with some of the schemes, this falls into the ambit of the Minister for Social Protection. However, a holistic approach is needed. While we have seen decent work and decent schemes such as WorkAbility, EmployAbility and the work of the Trinity centre and others in engaging with employers, I do not think these are sufficient. It is too ad hoc. We need to see a greater level of engagement. With regard to the wage subsidy scheme, a number of employers, particularly those who employ more than one person with disabilities or a considerable number of them, say the scheme does not take sufficient account of the added costs of doing so. The reasonable accommodation funding provided through the work and access programme is also not fit for purpose. All of that needs to be looked at. Even with the wage subsidy scheme, we probably need to look at the self-employed and entrepreneurs. All of that is necessary.

I thank the Deputies for raising these important matters. The most important lesson we have learned as to why there have been low rates of participation is that employers have not been engaged enough. We need to turn the dial as regards the challenges they may face and the barriers that may present themselves. We must ensure they are supported to have better disability and inclusion policies that are focused on employers. The voices of those within the disability sector also need to be heard at that table. We will look at the concerns, the challenges and the stories that have been presented. Many businesses want to employ people but need clarity on flexible arrangements and legal obligations. We have schemes in place that are managed through the Department of Social Protection. However, the Department of enterprise also wants to ensure that enterprises, SMEs and businesses are supported through the Department of Social Protection. That is an important element.