Not enough people with disabilities employed in Ireland, Minister says

There are “not enough” disabled people in employment across the country, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary has said.

Just under 2,700 employees and 1,600 employers are availing of a State wage subsidy scheme to encourage more firms to recruit workers with disabilities.

Current numbers in employment “are not enough” and, in a bid to encourage more employers to recruit those with disabilities, he has dropped the minimum number of required employment hours from 15 to eight.

He has also expanded the scheme to include voluntary, community and non-commercial semi-State sectors.

The Minister is also urging employers to “step up and offer more opportunities”.

He praised the Mr Price chain of discount stores as a “super example” of a firm employing staff with disabilities. Some 18 per cent of the company’s employees have disabilities.

The changes come in a bid to reduce the gap between disabled and non-disabled employment rates in Ireland, which chair of the Oireachtas committee on disability matters, Maurice Quinlivan, described as “among the highest in Europe”.

Calleary said the scheme is an important disability support and “provides a valuable subsidy of up to €10 per hour per worker to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to disabled people”.

As of October this year, 1,614 employers avail of the scheme, supporting 2,695 employees. Expenditure in 2025 totalled €22.1 million.

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An employer with one to six disabled employees receives a subsidy of €7.50 an hour for each worker. This rises to €8.50 for up to 16 employees and to €10 an hour for firms with 25 or more disabled staff.

If a firm with 25 or more disabled workers employs an employment assistance officer, the State grant payment for this position increases from €30,000 to €45,000 a year.

Calleary said there have been many changes and improvements to the scheme in recent years. A 2024 review recommended the minimum hours be reduced from 21 to 15, and the scheme was expanded to other sectors.

Speaking in the Dáil this week, the Minister said he had engaged with many disability groups and employers and subsequently reduced the minimum hours from 15 to eight in Budget 2027.

Quinlivan said: “Those living with a disability can make an enormous contribution to our workforce if we help them.”

He welcomed the change to minimum hours but called on the Minister to increase the wage subsidy further.

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The disability committee chairman also urged him to roll out career supports for young people with disabilities, citing the Walk Peer (Providing Equal Employment Routes) programme, which provides a transition programme to help students in special schools move to further education, training and employment.

Calleary said the changes were in response to the 2024 review and disability advocacy groups. The decrease from 15 to eight hours “is one thing that will potentially be a major change”.

He also plans to engage with employer groups throughout January and said “they too can step up and offer more opportunities”.

Calleary said they used Mr Price during disability work and skills week “to explain to fellow employers” about the scheme.

“I think employers sometimes feel there is a lot of risk in this and what we need is the champion employers. There are many good employers out there who are really helpful to us.”

He said following the Mr Price engagement, there had been “an increase in communications from employers willing to take this on”.

He added: “I am not happy with our disability employment gap. I want to change it and to change the narrative in this space.”