SPEECH BY THE HON. LAWRENCE GONZI, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR SOCIAL POLICY, AT THE WORKSHOP ‘ACCESS TO THE LABOUR MARKET FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITY’ ORGANISED BY E.T.C. HELD AS PART OF THE WORK LIFE AND EU ENLARGEMENT PROJECT – SLIEMA

Ladies and Gentlemen:

This figure is far too low and probably unrealistic. I personally believe there are more persons with disability who are active in the labour market but who see no reason why they should register their disability with the Corporation. There are also persons with disability who are neither registered under the National Register nor do they participate in the Employment Register.

What is more worrying perhaps are the findings from the survey carried out in 1999 by the National Commission Persons with Disability which showed that most of the respondents, who were persons with disability, lacked basic literacy and numeracy skills. The implication is obvious – the disability is compounded by the skills-deficit, making it even more difficult for them to secure employment in the open labour market that is increasingly demanding higher-skill levels.

Our challenge is therefore twofold. The first relates to skills-gap and the second concerns the participation rate. In a sense both are interrelated.

Fortunately the National Commission Persons with Disability realised this a few years ago. As a result, today, we have a primary and secondary school system that has moved forward in its inclusive education model and I am personally convinced that this substantial investment will improve the potential of persons with disability to access the labour market.

But access to the labour market depends on a number of other factors. Allow me to mention just a few. Firstly, the change in culture and mentality that needs to take place. In this context we have made substantial progress and people are now accepting the fact that a disability does not necessarily mean inability to work. Today’s service based economy together with the information technology revolution have all widened the horizons for persons with disability to access job opportunities which were previously inexistent.

Secondly, this change in culture and mentality was further consolidated by my government through the passing of Act 1 of 2000 – the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act which makes it illegal to discriminate against a person on the basis of his or her disability and which provides for adequate remedies.

Thirdly, the working environment needs to be accessible to persons with disability. Again, here we have registered substantial progress through the introduction of a standard procedure whereby applications to build new places of work or places which are open to the public are now approved by the Planning Authority only after the plans are certified as accessible by the National Commission Persons with Disability. This initiative has been complemented by a drive to make government owned buildings, departments, local council offices and service delivery offices physically accessible as soon as possible.

I am also proud of the fact that my Ministry’s recently re-launched website is now also text based and can be accessed by those who are sight impaired. Hopefully this will set a standard that will be followed by others.

Apart from all this, the Employment and Training Corporation in Malta has also launched some important programs focusing on this specific challenge. During the past months, and after the strategic review of its operations, the Corporation identified ways and methods of assisting persons with disability both with respect to the acquisition of skills as well as matching their skills with the exigencies of the labour market. This covers not just persons with physical or mental disabilities, but also persons with mental health problems.

ETC has been active in this sphere since its establishment in 1990 but I prefer to quote latest achievements. Through its own efforts and through agreements signed with NGOs, between October 2000 and September 2001, ETC managed:

• to find jobs for 47 persons with disability who are now placed in full-time or part-time jobs
• to train 48 persons with disability through various ETC mainstream programmes or programmes delivered by NGOs
• to place 22 others in two of its schemes - the Bridging the Gap scheme and the Employment Training Placement Scheme - to integrate them in the labour market

These very encouraging results have been generated through effective partnerships with NGOs – Eden Foundation, Richmond Foundation, Arka Foundation. Indeed, we need to build upon these achievements and I encourage ETC to forge similar partnerships to improve the employment prospects of persons with disability

The Corporation has also been working on what might be called a disability activation programme consisting of:

1. An outreach campaign;
2. Compliance by employers employing at least 50 employees with the Persons with Disability (Employment) Act, 1969 which imposes a minimum 2% quota on those employers who employ more than 20 persons;
3. The provision of more adequate schemes to facilitate employment on a permanent basis;
4. Shifting disabled persons from welfare assistance to employment.

In its efforts to implement this programme, ETC is writing to employers informing them of the number of persons with disability in their employ. If employers are found to be in conformity with the law regarding the 2% quota, ETC will encourage them to increase the number of disabled persons in their employment. At the same time discussions will be started with those employers who are defaulting encouraging them to comply with the law within an agreed timeframe. As a last resort, legal action will be taken against those employers who despite ETC’s attempts and assistance to regularise their illegal position refuse to comply with the law.

On the other hand, in collaboration with the National Commission Persons with Disability, ETC has agreed to forego sanctioning those employers who employ persons with disability who, though qualifying for registration in the disabled persons register, were not so registered.

ETC has also developed new schemes aimed at facilitating the integration of more persons with disability within the labour market. Persons with disability who are job seekers will be assessed by a multi-disciplinary team to determine the level of support needed on a temporary or permanent basis. The multi-disciplinary team consists of ETC officials who specialise on employment matters concerning persons with disability including an occupational psychologist, and representatives of the employer.

The team determines the support needed by clients in terms of job coaching services/personal assistance on a temporary or permanent basis, and the subsidy to be paid on their wage to the employer. The job coaches primarily support persons with intellectual disability to obtain the job and keep it whereas the personal assistant supports persons with physical disability to do tasks that the latter cannot do on their own. Job coaches are chosen by ETC whereas, personal assistants will be chosen by employers.

The multi-disciplinary team will classify persons with disability according to their productivity level – those who are identified as having a productivity level up to 40% and those having a productivity level of between 40% and 65%. Depending on their classification, ETC will be able to use a combination of job coaching services, personal assistance and subsidies to the employer. Five possible schemes have been designed that consist of a combination of job coaching services, personal assistance and subsidies to employers.

These new schemes are in addition to the current ones.

The development of these schemes was not spearheaded only by the requirements emanating from the provisions of the laws applicable in Malta. My Government believes in the ability of persons with disability to integrate in the labour market as they are or can be productive. The greater the number of such persons in productive employment, the greater will be their contribution towards economic and social wellbeing.

In addition, the European Union’s Employment Strategy directs member states to take active measures to eliminate any form of discrimination in the labour market against persons with disability. It encourages member states to take measures to increase the number of persons with disability in employment and to increase their participation in vocational training programmes, so as to integrate them more in the labour market and avoid social exclusion or welfare entrapment.

In conclusion, allow me to thank you all for contributing to the success of this workshop. I am informed that the proceedings went well and that there was substantial exchange of ideas. I am also delighted that social partners participated in this workshop because I firmly believe that social partnership in the area of social policy development and implementation is key to future success. I now look forward to positive outcomes from both the workshop and the practical implementation projects.

A special word of thanks is addressed to the Swedish delegation representing the Swedish National Labour Market Board and Work Environment Authority for assisting Malta in improving the access to the labour market to persons with disability through the Worklife and EU Enlargement Project.