Annual Report 2005 - The National Disability Authority

Annual Report 2005
Policy advice on key areas
Employment and training
The NDA research work on employment informed NDA’s policy advice in this
area. The Research Conference in October 2005 was on the theme Disability and
Employment. John Martin of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) told the conference that the employment rate among persons
with disabilities in all of the industrialised countries rarely exceeds 25%, although based
on polls, between 75 and 80% of persons with disabilities say they would like to work
at least part-time. The conference proceedings are available on the website.
Comprehensive employment strategy
The NDA recommended that the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment’s
Sectoral Plan should have a comprehensive employment strategy for people with
disabilities as its central focus. To provide more developed policy advice on such an
approach, the NDA commissioned with WRC Social and Economic Consultants to
identify the key elements of such a strategy. Work on this policy paper began in 2005,
and it will be published in 2006.
An important part of this project was to host two high-level round tables on
employment and disability with international experts Patricia Thornton, York University
(7 th July), and John Martin, OECD, and Ilene Zeitzer, Disability Policy Solutions, US,
on (10 th October), together with invited senior officials from key Government
Departments and agencies, and Irish experts. These round tables explored key success
factors, based on international evidence, for raising employment among people with
disabilities.
Disability and Work report
In April 2005 the NDA published a report Disability and Work: The Picture we Learn
from Official Statistics.
The report finds that people with disabilities are two and a half times less likely to
have a job than non-disabled people. Increasing participation in work would reduce
the incidence of poverty and isolation and would open doors to wider participation in
society.
The report highlights the high drop out rate from education of teenagers with
disabilities. It makes the link between a successful education and a successful career,
and points out that a significant minority of young people with disabilities are losing out
from an early stage in their lives.
As 85% of working-age disability is acquired, the report emphasises the importance of
job retention and return to work strategies in achieving this target.
The report calls for active recruitment strategies, active promotion to employers of
the FÁS supports for workers with disabilities, accessible workplaces, access transport,
easing of the benefit traps, and reiterates the case for a Cost of Disability Payment.
A submission was made in January 2005 to the National Economic and Social
Forum’s project team on an Inclusive Labour Market, drawing on the analysis and
27