Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Ireland (Ratification: 1986)

Articles 2, 3 and 5 of the Convention. Implementation of a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the recent measures adopted to promote employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. It notes with interest the adoption in October 2015 of the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (CES) 2015–24, developed following consultations with the social partners. The CES aims to ensure a coordinated approach to support and enable persons with disabilities to progress into employment by way of six strategic priorities:

• -building skills;
• -capacity and independence;
• -providing bridges and supports into work;
• -making work pay;
• -promoting job retention and re-entry to work;
• -providing coordinated and seamless support; and
• -engaging employers.

The Government indicates that, in line with the CES, the Department of Social Protection has established an interdepartmental expert group to examine the complex interaction between the benefits system, including the medical card, and net income gains in employment. The Committee also notes other measures described in the Government’s report, including a wage subsidy scheme, which provides financial incentives to private sector employers to hire people with a disability, and measures taken through the Reasonable Accommodation Fund. With respect to the former, the number of workers participating in the scheme stands at around 2,000, having increased by a third over the course of 2015. The Government’s 2016 budget allocates €21.6 million for this scheme. With respect to the latter, the Government indicates that the Fund assists employers in taking appropriate measures to enable a person with a disability/impairment to have access to employment by providing a range of grants, such as a workplace equipment adaptation grant. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the impact of the measures adopted to promote the employment of persons with disabilities, including employment and vocational rehabilitation programmes and active labour market policy measures focusing on promoting the employment of persons with disabilities in the open labour market. It also requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures adopted through the Reasonable Accommodation Fund as well as on any findings or recommendations made by the interdepartmental expert group examining the interaction between the benefits system and net income gains in employment of persons with disabilities. Please also continue to provide information on the content and outcome of the consultations held with employers’ and workers’ organizations and representative organizations of and for persons with disabilities on the matters covered by the Convention.

Article 4. Equality of opportunities and treatment. The Committee notes the statistical information provided on the number of recipients of illness and disability payments, disaggregated by age and sex, for 2015. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the impact of the measures aimed at ensuring equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and vocational rehabilitation and training for workers with disabilities, by including information on the number of persons benefiting from these measures, disaggregated by age, sex and the nature of disability.

Article 8. Services in rural areas and remote communities. The Committee notes that the Department of Social Protection is progressively rolling out its full activation support service to persons with disabilities. Intreo, an employment service provided by the Department of Social Protection, was launched in October 2012 and currently has 58 centres located throughout the country. The Government adds that three more centres are due to open in 2016. Working with Intreo, a targeted action to supplement existing commitments to promoting the employment of persons with disabilities, was included in the 2016 Programme for Partnership Government and aims to introduce flexibility and support in the social welfare system for people with severe and enduring mental health difficulties to transition into employment by ensuring a seamless return of their entitlements should a particular employment opportunity prove unsuitable. The Committee further notes that over 60 employment support officers received training in early 2016 in the provision of employment support to people with disabilities to ensure comprehensive national coverage. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the vocational rehabilitation and employment services provided for persons with disabilities in rural areas and remote communities and their impact on access to and retention in employment for persons with disabilities in rural areas and remote communities.