Sir, – Dan O’Brien quite rightly points to the creation of a jobless class when he refers to people with disabilities over the boom years (Business, January 25th).
Many people with disabilities are in good health and would welcome the opportunity to be active members of society and engage in meaningful work. A recent ESRI report highlights the low participation rate in the active labour market by people with disabilities, 36 per cent compared with 77 per cent of other adults. Workers with disabilities were not hard hit by the recession, like other workers, because they were not well represented in employment even during the boom.
The social welfare system has unwittingly created a poverty trap for people, who may lose out if they return to the workplace, as the issue surrounding the cost of disability has not been addressed. A significant percentage of people with disabilities incur additional costs of heating, clothes and day-to-day expenses that are above and beyond that experienced by people without a disability.
It is vital that all activation programmes to assist back to work those traditionally excluded provide equality of access for people with disabilities. Nothing short of a systemic approach considering all the factors that prevent full participation of people with disabilities is required. The fact that those on disability allowance or benefit cannot access Tús programmes only compounds the discrimination and invisibility of people with disabilities as potentially active in the labour force.
Inclusion will not be achieved by simply culling or reducing the number of eligible recipients for disability-related payments, further pushing people with disabilities into the margins of our society. A sustained and multi-pronged programme, which we hope will come with the delivery of the Government’s commitment to a comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities, is the way forward. We are still waiting. – Yours, etc,