The Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance wishes to inform the public about the services and programmes for the vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities that it implements.
The Special Fund of the Centre for Vocational Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities, whose budget for 2022 of €149.OO0 was recently approved, is just one of the programmes provided and concerns the provision of up to €8,500 in sponsorship to people who wish to become self-employed by setting up small sustainable units in any professional field. Approximately 15 new self-employment units are established each year.
In addition, the annual budget of the Department of Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities includes an allocation of €450,000 for the operation of the Supported Employment Scheme and the Training Grant Scheme. Through the Supported Employment Scheme, approximately 370 people with intellectual and/or mental disabilities are employed in enterprises in the open labour market, through 24 programmes operated nationwide by organisations employing job coaches, each supporting a group of people with disabilities to find and keep a job. The Training Grant Scheme provides a grant of up to €1,700 to any person with a disability who wishes to attend a training programme of up to six months' duration to widen their employment and social integration opportunities.
The Recruitment of Persons with Disabilities in the Wider Public Sector (Special Provisions) Act applies to the Education Service, the Public Service and Public Law Entities and has so far enabled 251 persons with disabilities who meet specified objective criteria to be given priority appointment to compensate for their reduced employment opportunities.
Finally, the Department of Labour operates programmes co-funded by the European Social Fund to provide incentives for employers in the open labour market to recruit people with disabilities and employs Employment Advisers specially trained to support citizens, including people with disabilities, to find work and integrate into employment.
Specifically, during the 2014-2020 programming period, the Department of Labour launched the Incentives for the Recruitment of Persons with Disabilities Project with a total budget of €2,000,000, where 135 persons were placed. Also, in the new 2021-2027 programming period, the Incentives for the Recruitment of Persons with Disabilities 2021, with a total budget of €2,000,000, was re-launched with the aim of placing 100 people.
People with disabilities seeking employment can register as unemployed at the provincial and local offices of the Public Employment Service (PES), whose officers will give priority to them. Unemployed persons belonging to vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities are provided with personalised guidance and support within the framework of an individualised approach which includes the development and implementation of an Individual Action Plan. As part of the provision of these personalised services, people are referred to training programmes to enhance their employability and to job vacancies or subsidised jobs created by Subsidised Employment Schemes.
It should be noted that unemployed persons with disabilities are given priority when referring candidates for public sector hourly positions by placing them on the list of Special Cases.
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