DFI Reasonable Accommodation Submission

Issued on May 19 2022

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DFI recently made a submission to the Department of Social Protection on the Public Consultation on the Reasonable Accommodation Fund grants.

The Fund aims to ensure equal access to employment for disabled people through the provision of funding for various supports and accommodations. Our submission highlights the barriers that disabled people face in obtaining and retaining employment, with Ireland having one of the lowest rates of disability employment in the EU, and the need for reform required to achieve the objective of the Fund.

DFI’s submission made a range of recommendations, including:

• A review and reform of the RAF must consider the economic and social context and circumstances of disabled people, including very high poverty rates and low employment
• Broaden the RAF criteria to include NGOs, and self-employed people.
• Adopt a person-centred needs-based approach.
• Replace medical model of disability language and approach with social model.
• Address bureaucratic barriers and increase grant rates.
• Address and act on Cost of Disability Report.
• Provide greater flexibility and funding for disability awareness training.