The Tanaiste and Minister for Trade Enterprise and Employment Ms Mary Harney has announced the Government is to provide £700,000 to fund an awareness campaign to promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Ms Harney made the announcement at Government buildings today during her speech at the launch of the findings of a report Social Inclusion and Mental Illnesscommissioned by Schizophrenia Ireland with the support of Combat Poverty Agency.
The report comprised interviews with both employers and service users on the employment difficulties facing an estimated 35,000 Schizophrenia sufferers in Ireland.
The report found that since the dissolution of the National Rehabilitation Board (NRB) gaps in the support for assisting people with disabilities into employment have emerged.
It also found that service users felt that inquiries about mental health in job applications were prejudicial and that such enquiries may have implications under Equality legislation.
Currently the unemployment rate for those who suffer from disabilities stands at 70 per cent.
Ms Harney said she hoped the campaign, which will be co-ordindated by the Irish Business and Employers Confederationand the Irish Congress of Trade Unions would"make employers aware of the possibilities and the huge opportunity which disabled people offer to employers who often find it very difficult to find employees."
Echoing the words of the report’s chief researcher Dr Alan Bruce on the therapeutic possibilities of work, she said "employment is necessary not just as a means of ensuring the people are financially independent but also as a therapy and part of the healing process."
In his speech, Dr Bruce also said that according to the EU and the UN the one disability that is growing exponentially in all sectors world-wide is mental health.
The report was launched today, Lucia Day, which is the birthday of Lucia Joyce, daughter of James Joyce who was diagnosed with the illness in her mid twenties.
The help line for those suffering from schizophrenia is 1890 621 631. All calls are charged at local rate.