Disability Issues
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
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Michael Murphy (FG), Tipperary South

I welcome the Minister's reply. I thank and acknowledge everybody working within the scheme and, in particular, individuals in the Department of Social Protection around the country working on this and other activation schemes. It is such a fantastic scheme and it is not about money or policy. It is about being able to be seen to be capable of working, to be able to work with others. I am conscious of those individuals who just do not have the capacity to work 15 hours a week and may only have the capacity to work ten hours a week. There has been a lot of feedback from employers and service providers indicating that the current minimum threshold of 15 hours per week can be a barrier. While the scheme is well designed, this requirement can limit its reach. As the Minister said, there is a commitment in the programme for Government. I look forward to working with the Minister to explore whether we can reduce the minimum requirement further.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-15