On the eve of the international day of peope with disabilities, themed "Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality", Congress notes the raising of the income disregard as a significant development in removing barriers to employment for people with disabilities.
The figure rises from €6,000 a year to €22,000 p.a. and potentially removes a very significant barrier - the fear of losing a medical card - to people with disability taking up employment. It follows a recommendation of the 2017 inter-departmental report "Make Work Pay". People with disabilities are only half as likely to be in employment as others of working age and today's announcement is an important step in achieving better employment rates for those people with a disability who want to work.
This year's theme focuses on empowering persons with disabilities for an inclusive, equitable and sustainable development as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda pledges to "leave no one behind" and we still have a long way to go in terms of keeping that pledge to people with disabilities and in achieveing decent work for all.
