2026-01-15

6. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection to explore the possibility of reducing the minimum hours of the wage subsidy scheme from 15 hours to ten hours (details supplied). [1439/26]

Somewhat following on from the last question on the wage subsidy scheme, I want to acknowledge the reforms introduced by the Minister over the last number of years. I want to further explore the possibility of reducing the minimum hours from 15 to ten. Doing so this would help many service users in centres of excellence like MooreHaven in Tipperary town to achieve their dreams and it would make working in local communities a more realistic option.

As the Deputy knows, the wage subsidy scheme is a key disability employment support. It aims to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to disabled people through a subsidy. In December 2025, 1,551 employers were availing of the wage subsidy scheme and 2,626 employees were supported through the scheme. Budget 2026 provided for the scheme to be expanded to those who acquire a disability or who have a progressive or degenerative condition that worsens and to those who transfer from invalidity pension to partial capacity benefit. In 2024, the Department published a review of the wage subsidy scheme. Based on the findings in the review, my Department reduced the minimum required hours for the scheme from 21 hours per week to 15 hours per week. This change sought to make the scheme more accessible and flexible for disabled people. However, it also sought to ensure that the wage subsidy scheme maintains its key aim to encourage employers to provide substantial and meaningful work to disabled people. The scheme needs to operate within the new 15-hour minimum requirement for a period before we can assess the impact the change has had. As the Deputy knows, there is already a commitment in the programme for Government and the national human rights strategy for disabled people to further reviewing the minimum hours of the wage subsidy scheme. I will advance this commitment but I need time to judge and measure the impact of the new 15-hour minimum requirement. I am very happy to engage with the Deputy and to visit the project in Tipperary to see how it is working.

I welcome the Minister's reply. I thank and acknowledge everybody working within the scheme and, in particular, individuals in the Department of Social Protection around the country working on this and other activation schemes. It is such a fantastic scheme and it is not about money or policy. It is about being able to be seen to be capable of working, to be able to work with others. I am conscious of those individuals who just do not have the capacity to work 15 hours a week and may only have the capacity to work ten hours a week. There has been a lot of feedback from employers and service providers indicating that the current minimum threshold of 15 hours per week can be a barrier. While the scheme is well designed, this requirement can limit its reach. As the Minister said, there is a commitment in the programme for Government. I look forward to working with the Minister to explore whether we can reduce the minimum requirement further.

I thank the Deputy. We will certainly work across the House in relation to this area of furthering employment opportunities for those with disabilities. As we discussed earlier, WorkAbility is working on 57 local, regional and national projects right across the country. We have also work in access, which is one of the changes we announced alongside the changes to the wage subsidy scheme. This offers seven supports to improve access in the workplace for people with a disability. Funding is available for communication support, work equipment, workplace adaptation and training. I am currently reviewing the work and access scheme with a view to looking at the new assistive technology that is available for employers and those with disability in terms of maximising the opportunities that are available. We have made changes again to the wage subsidy scheme. We have made changes to the balance of the wage subsidy scheme to encourage people. As I said previously, throughout 2026 we will be having a number of work and skills events that are themed for those with a disability. We had a very successful pilot last October with AsIAm. I intend to roll those out nationally during 2026.

It was remiss of me not to acknowledge the many employers across the country who participate in the scheme. Indeed, their willingness to provide opportunities has had such a positive impact. I am engaging with service providers, not just the MooreHaven centre, but others within my constituency, and they have indicated to me that the ten-hour threshold would be far more achievable, first of all, for many employers but more importantly, it would better suit the needs of many participants, having regard to their abilities and indeed their limited capacity to work. As I said, for many the 15 hours is simply a bridge too far. This is not due to a lack of willingness but just practical and health-related constraints. Reducing the minimum requirement from 15 hours to ten hours is a sensible and what I would call inclusive adjustment. As the Minister said, it fully aligns with the objectives of the programme for Government, but I accept what the Minister is saying. The 15 hours minimum requirement was only introduced in 2024 but we are now two years on, so I appeal to the Minister to maybe accelerate that consideration.

I would like to echo Deputy Murphy's call to reduce the time requirement for the wage subsidy scheme. The OECD published a report not too long ago saying that 10% of the working-age population had a disability and 25% of people with disabilities in 2019 were unemployed. It is the largest employability gap in the developed world and is higher than the United States or the United Kingdom. Dr. Mel Cousins from Trinity College said that income from employment would be the best way of tackling poverty for people with disabilities but, importantly, making sure that people do not lose employment would be the best way of tackling poverty for people with disabilities. One thing that is not mentioned too often in the wage subsidy scheme is that the number of employers that are availing of it has actually dropped over the last number of years. What will the Minister do to tackle the highest employment gap for people with disabilities in the developed world?

Just to come back to Deputy Murphy's point first, we will keep it under review. In 2024, the hours were reduced from 21 to 15, which is quite a substantial reduction. It is important that we also keep an eye on the main aim of the scheme which is to provide substantial and meaningful work and I think we need to keep that in mind as well. In relation to Deputy Hayes's point, we very focused on addressing that gap. As I said, we have made changes to the wage subsidy scheme. We have provided quite a lot of information to employers. Throughout 2025 we relaunched the wage subsidy scheme and made changes to it and we have made further changes to it to address a particular point the Deputy raised, that is, that those who acquire a disability employment can be retained within their current employment and avail of the wage subsidy scheme. Previously, if somebody within a workforce acquired a disability, they were not supported through the wage subsidy scheme and would have had to give up that employment. We have made that change. We will be making further changes to the workplace activation scheme to support employers. I am also committed to engaging with employer organisations in relation to showing the opportunities that are there. I am referring to the skills that are being missed, the talents that are not being availed of when employers do not look to people with disability for employment opportunities. I am looking at various social enterprise models that will reflect where Deputy Murphy is coming from in terms of how we can use that skill and talent. I am very committed to addressing that gap. Deputy Hayes's statement about the gap being the worst in the developed world is wrong.

That is what the OECD said.

We are close to the EU average, but it is nowhere near where I want them to be and I am determined to make a change there.