Reviewing progress under the Comprehensive Employment Strategies for People with Disabilities
With the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities coming to an end in 2024, the NDA has produced a comprehensive final review of progress under the strategy.
To conduct the review, a number of methods were adopted:
• A suite of indicators developed to monitor progress under the CES was examined a final time.
• Annual, independent assessment reports on the CES developed by the NDA were reviewed.
• Views on key achievements of the strategy and on areas requiring further focus and development were sought from key stakeholders
• Findings from previous NDA and DCEDIY engagement with disabled people that related to employment and held during the lifetime of the CES were drawn on.
The review showed that, over the lifetime of the CES, a number of positive developments were realised across a range of areas, including in education and skill development and in relation to some employment supports. However, several gaps and challenges were found to remain, including in relation to the persistent disability employment gap in Ireland, unresolved issues in making work pay, limitations in relation to appropriate career guidance for some learners with disabilities, gaps in supported employment, and issues with strategy coordination and implementation. Learnings for future national strategies that include a focus on the employment of disabled people are included in the report.
An easy-to-read report on the findings of the review is also available.
This final report follows on from a mid-term analysis of indicators for monitoring progress under the Comprehensive Employment Strategy (CES) that was published in 2020, and builds on the series of annual independent Assessment of Progress of the Comprehensive Employment Strategy produced by the NDA.
Research to Inform the Comprehensive Employment Strategy
This report was commissioned by the National Disability Authority and carried out by the Work Research Centre Social and Economic Consultants. The report provides a blueprint for a system that would engage fully with people with a disability and address the changes in employment, education and welfare policies required. There are a number of recommendations in the report that fed into our contributions to the Comprehensive Employment Strategy and other policies such as Make Work Pay.
This paper is a National Disability Authority synthesis of presentations that took place at a seminar in 2011 to inform the development of the Comprehensive Employment Strategy. The paper captures information on good practice approaches to support people with intellectual disability to obtain and retain employment.