Allegations against workshops include low or no pay, harassment, bullying and verbal abuse Over 4,000 people with intellectual disabilities labour with limited rights, writes Kitty Holland
Separate investigations by the HSE and the Equality Authority into alleged exploitation of people with intellectual disabilities in sheltered workshops may ultimately lead to these being closed and could prompt a series of cases from workers, against those managing them, under the Employment Equality Act.
It has become increasingly clear that questions must be answered about "dubious" practices in the workshops, according to the intellectual disability advocacy group, Inclusion Ireland.
It is just one organisation that has heard numerous allegations of exploitation in the workshops. The allegations include being "harassed at work, being bullied, called names or having negative remarks made about their appearance".
The Irish Times has spoken to people who were paid as little as €13 a week for full-time work.
One (sheltered) intellectually disabled man, aged 46 and working in a hospital as a carer's assistant, is being paid nothing.
"Of course I'd like some money but they told me I'm doing voluntary work. It is tiring work but otherwise I'd have nothing to do," he said.
More than 4,000 people with intellectual disabilities are working in sheltered workshops doing such work as shrink-wrapping two-for-one offers for supermarkets, putting inserts into mail shots or making cardboard boxes.
In all, some 24,000 people with intellectual disabilities are in various day service, including sheltered work, social activities and education.
Concerns have grown throughout the disability sector at a lack of clear guidelines on what constitutes "work" or what constitutes "therapeutic activity". They were addressed to some extent in the Department of Health's draft code of practice for sheltered occupational services, published in 2003. These have not been adopted however.
The HSE has now appointed a working group to investigate the workshops and possible breaches of the Employment Equality Act and to draw up guidelines and a code of conduct.
Its work will take cognisance of Ireland's obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and the Disability Act. It plans to finish its work by May 2008.
Among those represented on the group are: Inclusion Ireland; the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies; the Disability Federation of Ireland and the Department of Health and Children.
A memo from the group's chairman, Leo Kinsella, to all members states an initial "scoping" has confirmed that "established practice that sheltered work is being carried out as part of day services in Intellectual Disability and Mental Health settings and from which an income is generated by the organisations, but for which clients do not get appropriate pay".
It notes workers in the workshops "do not enjoy employment rights" and also speaks of "significant variation in the capitation rate being paid to agencies including concerns that there may be 'double funding'."
A spokesman also confirmed the Equality Authority had "a number of cases we are investigating involving sheltered workshops, centring on pay and conditions".
Clíona Ní Chualáin, acting chief executive of Inclusion Ireland, said the activities in the workshops, although profitable, were described as "therapeutic".
She said the people working in them were described as "service users" rather than employees. However, from the workers' perspective they were doing work and often did not understand why they were not being paid a wage, she added.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has argued that workers in workshops should not be excluded from employment rights. "The concerns of people in sheltered workshops has been identified as a priority area."
Ms Ní Chualáin described as "very positive" the HSE plan to draw up clear guidelines on workshops and on what should ultimately replace them. There was a growing move to favour supported employment in the open labour market, she said, and responsibility a should be transferred to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
"The concern though is that the move away from sheltered workshops could happen too fast and that workers would be left with literally nothing at all to do."