Social Welfare Schemes
Dail Éireann — 2023-10-24
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Heather Humphreys (FG), Cavan-Monaghan

Ireland is behind the average EU rates for the employment of people with disabilities. I have worked to enhance the supports we have in my Department, whether it is the employability programme, the reasonable accommodation fund, the WorkAbility programme or the wage subsidy scheme for people with disabilities. I was delighted to bring in changes in this budget. There had not been any changes in the Department's free travel pass scheme for many years, but I got approval to extend the free travel pass to people medically unfit to drive. This means they will get the free travel pass regardless of whether they are receiving a social welfare payment. It means that people who have a disability and who cannot have a licence to drive to work because they have been certified as being medically unfit to drive will qualify to get the free travel pass. This will help a good number of people who have disabilities to have access to their workplaces.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2023-10-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:52:19+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-10-24