Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697750911601.pdf (Ireland)
Increasing Employment Participation – Self-employment and Entrepreneurship for People with Disabilities Statement by Thomas Cooney, Professor of Entrepreneurship, TU Dublin Introduction • Since 2006, I have been heavily involved in work relating to entrepreneurship for people with • disabilities.

In 2021, I tailored designed and delivered a 12-week online course called ‘Entrepreneurship for People with Disabilities’ in conjunction with the Open Doors Initiative.
Following its success, AIB agreed to fund its delivery for another 3 years.
Analysing the Current Situation • There are effectively three options for people to put food on the table: (1) employment – but Ireland has the lowest levels of employment for people with disabilities; (2) self-employment – but there is no tailored support available or encouragement to start one’s own business; and (3) welfare support – this leads to the greatest barrier to self-employment which is the ‘welfare benefit trap’ (in Ireland and across the globe).
• KEY ISSUE – I kindly ask the Committee to remember this one point from my presentation: People with disabilities face additional and distinctive challenges in starting their own business.

Until such time as people accept this truth, there will never be real change.

• There are two widely used responses when I request tailored support for people with disabilities relating to self-employment: (1) We treat everyone the same; and (2) Our door is open to everyone.
These responses suggest that their concept of ‘equality’ is the solution, but a tailored approach is needed to address the additional and distinctive challenges.

• According to an OECD 2023 report, “people with disabilities, on average, face greater barriers in business start-up and development due to lower levels of education, less work experience, and negative social attitudes.
In addition to challenges related to skills and finance gaps, obstacles to self-employment include limited access to entrepreneurship support, disincentives related to interactions between income and income support, and difficulties building networks.

Moreover, many people with a disability do not see themselves as having entrepreneurial potential”.

• The report also highlighted the low levels of awareness of disability issues within entrepreneurship support systems.
• According to the CSO (2016) census, there are 17,654 people with disabilities who are self- employed and have employees.

There are 34,461 people with disabilities who are self- employed and have no employees.

These figures were secured by a private request to the CSO for them as they are not available on any website.

• However, despite the number of people with a disability who are self-employed, there is a great shortage of role models.
There is also a significant lack of representation of people with disabilities in the marketing activities of relevant enterprise agencies.

Irish Policy Responses • The National Policy Statement on Entrepreneurship in Ireland 2014 advocated for greater • inclusion of underrepresented cohorts, but did not mention people with disabilities.

In the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for Persons with Disabilities 2014 – 2024, Action 2.10 proposed two actions, of which only one has been met.
• In the 2019-2021 Phase Two Action Plan, Action 2.7 proposed three actions, only one of which has been met and that was due to the course that TU Dublin is delivering (mentoring).

• There are some tailored activities provided by some Local Development Companies, but it is a post code lottery and the offerings are inconsistent.

People working in the system do not know what is available and so cannot confidently advise clients.

• The binary welfare system means that you can either work or you cannot work.
Research from the UK shows that a binary welfare system is a significant barrier to self-employment and it needs to be changed to allow for fluctuations in health and ability to work.

• Overall, a forthcoming OECD Country Note for Ireland on Inclusive Entrepreneurship highlights the lack of policy and tailored entrepreneurship initiatives for people with disabilities in Ireland.

Potential Policy Actions • The following are the policy recommendations from a recent report from the OECD: 1.
Build an entrepreneurial identity among people with disabilities by promoting role models.

2.

Ensure that there are pathways back into income support systems when start-ups are not successful, such as bridging allowances that provide temporary income support.

3.

Adjust the delivery of entrepreneurship support schemes for the needs and capabilities of individual participants by offering more individualised support such as coaching and co-designing schemes with disability organisations whenever possible.
Invest in collecting more data on people with disabilities, including measuring the impact of dedicated entrepreneurship schemes.

4.

• The 2020 TU Dublin report ‘Pathway to Entrepreneurship for People with Disabilities in Ireland’ advocated that the following actions be taken: 1.

Create an awareness campaign that highlights the benefits of self-employment 2.

Build a dedicated website with tailored information 3.

Offer start-your-own-business programmes 4.


Provide one-to-mentoring (a critical success factor in courses across the globe) 5.

Present suitable finance options (e.g.

MicroFinance Ireland) 6.


Establish a network of entrepreneurs with disabilities (as in the UK, Canada and other countries) • I asked the participants on last year’s course what they believe needed to be changed and the responses overwhelmingly related to changing the welfare support system and the long- waiting time to get reinstated if they lose any benefits.
• Flexi-job in Denmark is a wage subsidy that is available to people with disabilities, regardless of whether they are working as an employee or as a self-employed person and this may be examined as a model for replication.

I am happy to answer any queries or provide any information that you may require to advance the work of the Committee.

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