Minister pledges employment assistance for people with disabilities

14 June 2007

Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey, pledged today that his department would continue to help economically inactive disabled people find work.

The Minister was speaking at a major conference for leaders in the field of supported employment for people with disabilities.  Supported employment offers people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups the help they may need to find and sustain jobs of their choice. The conference is the eighth organised by the European Union of Supported Employment and is entitled ‘Supported Employment – Working for All?’

Speaking at the event, Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey, said: “In Northern Ireland people with disabilities are twice as likely to have no qualifications and up to four times as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people.  This is unacceptable and my Department is working hard to drive this figure down and help those with disabilities find appropriate work, as well as ensuring that there is suitable support to enable them to continue to work.”

The aim of the conference is to promote the model of supported employment as a mainstream employment method which assists people with significant disabilities to access real employment opportunities, of their choice, in an inclusive setting with appropriate ongoing support to become economically and socially active in their own communities.

The Minister continued: “This conference provides a platform to raise vital issues and challenge policy and decision makers from over 30 countries worldwide on how people with disabilities lack support to find and retain paid employment despite the many positive benefits to all.”

The Minister congratulated individuals and organisations from Northern Ireland for being at the heart of the European Union of Supported Employment (EUSE).

NOTES TO EDITORS:

  1. The 8th conference of the European Union of Supported Employment (EUSE) entitled “Supported Employment – Working for All?” is being held in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast from 13-15 June 2007. The conference has been organised by the Northern Ireland Union of Supported Employment (NIUSE). NIUSE is an umbrella organisation representing individuals and organisations providing employment opportunities for people with disabilities through the model of supported employment. NIUSE holds the Presidency of EUSE and, presently, provides secretariat duties.  EUSE currently represents 17 National Associations: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain  and Sweden.
  2. The key themes for the conference are Good Practice, Leadership, Managing Change and Mainstreaming. The three keynote speakers at the conference are Sir Gerry Robinson, business expert, author and TV presenter, Christy Lynch, supported employment authority from the Republic of Ireland, and David Harp, cognitive scientist. Workshop sessions at the conference are being led by experts in their field throughout Europe as well as countries as far afield as the USA, New Zealand and Australia.
  3. Media queries to the Department for Employment and Learning Press Office on 028 9025 7872.