Ensuring people with disabilities are supported to achieve their employment ambitions is very important. If you have a disability and want to start work, or continue work, there are a range of supports available to you. There are also supports available to your employer to make your workplace suitable and supportive.

Intreo (the Irish Public Employment Services) is a single point of contact for all employment services.

Your local Intreo Centre can provide you with support and advice on:

The EmployAbility Service is provided through sponsor organisations in local communities on behalf of Intreo. It provides a specialist employment service for people with disabilities, injuries and illnesses. This includes job coaching support and in-employment supports.

Contact details of EmployAbility organisations can be found here.

Intreo works with the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD) to deliver the Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) programme and the ‘Get Ahead’ programme.

WAM is a work placement programme that helps graduates with disabilities get employment. Find out more here.

The Ability Programme is a support for young people with disabilities as they move into education or employment.

The current Ability Programme is funded to the 1 July 2021 and is not open for further applications.

Visit our dedicated webpage for information on training and education supports.

If you have a disability and you are starting a new job, you may be able to keep some of your existing benefits.

If you are getting Invalidity Pension or you have been getting Illness Benefit for six months or more, and you want to take up work, you can apply for Partial Capacity Benefit. This scheme means that you may be able to continue to receive some additional income while working. Please note you cannot start work until you have received written permission to do so.

The rate of payment you will receive, in addition to your own earnings, is based on your current Invalidity Pension or Illness Benefit payment and a medical assessment. There is no risk to your benefits in undertaking this assessment. The scheme is voluntary and designed to give you an income boost in work.

Under this scheme, you can go back to your original payment if you need to, provided you continue to satisfy your underlying claim conditions.

To find out more, get in touch with the Partial Capacity Benefit team.

If you are getting Disability Allowance or Blind Pension, you can keep your full payment while earning up to €120 (€140 from 4 June 2021) per week from employment or self-employment.

If you earn over €120 (€140 from 4 June 2021) a week from work, half of your earnings between €120 and €350 are not included in the Disability Allowance means test.

Any earnings from work over €350 per week are fully assessed as income and your entitlement to Disability Allowance will be reduced.

If you are on Disability Allowance or Blind Pension, other schemes that may be available to you are:

If you are returning to full-time or part-time work, you may be able to keep your medical card. Visit the HSE website for more details.

If you move from a disability payment to a job, you can keep your entitlement to the Free Travel Scheme for five years. Detailed information on what payments qualify, are available on the Free Travel Scheme page.

The Reasonable Accommodation Fund provides financial support for people with a disability and their employers which include:

To get this funding you must be employed or starting a job in the private sector.

A grant of up to €1,000 is available through the Training Support Grant where a dedicated officer identifies a skills gap that prevents you from getting a job. This grant offers funding for:

The Disability Awareness Support Scheme provides funding for private sector employers to give disability awareness training to staff who work with a colleague who has a disability.

Your Guide to our Schemes and Services: Illness, Disability and Caring

You can find out more information by contacting your local Intreo Centre.