Employment Support Services
Dail Éireann — 2025-10-16
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Ruairí Ó Murchú (SF), Louth

That the programme for Government "commits to further review the minimum hours requirement under the wage subsidy scheme" is an absolute necessity. It goes without saying that we need "to examine an increase to the payment rate". One of the fears is with the three-year review mechanism. There will be other factors that will impact the costs faced by the Rehab Group and some of these other organisations, as well as on their ability to operate. We need to make sure there are not more employers who remove themselves from this scheme, which would mean there is less available employment for those with a disability. We are not in a good place in that regard. Beyond that, we need to streamline the entire system. The work and access programme, which allows for reasonable accommodation funding, is not fit for purpose. The wage subsidy scheme at the minute needs to be reviewed. I ask the Minister of State to go back to the Minister from the point of view that this needs to be looked at.
I will pass on the correspondence from a number of organisations that are in difficulty. The following statement is from Reach Ability:
We are a small social enterprise based in Wexford supporting and employing people with intellectual disabilities. We rely on the WSS to support a number of our employers and the widening gap over recent years between the WSS and the minimum wage has put us under increasing financial pressure. Having heard that the WSS is to increase by €1.20 per hour this year, but to then discover that our rate will only increase by 57 cent per hour while the minimum wage is going up by 65 cent, is dispiriting to everyone who is working so hard to maintain our jobs.
They have requested any support that can be offered. I received the following correspondence from Mr. Price:
For employers like us with 23 or more people with a disability on the pay roll, the rate paid increases from €9.45 to €10, an uplift of 55 cent. While this is welcome, it falls far short of offsetting the ongoing impact of successive wage increases.
At the minute, it is not fit for purpose. It needs to be looked at. We need to look after those with disabilities and we are failing at the minute.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-10-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-10-16