An amendment to make it possible to enforce a law that makes it compulsory on employers of more than 20 people to include 2% of disabled people in their workforce or pay a contribution was moved in Parliament on Tuesday by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana.
The Nationalist Opposition said it will be supporting the amendment.
Moving the second reading of a bill on the employment of people with disability, Caruana said that although it was currently compulsory for employers to include disabled people in their workforce, the clause was not enforceable and many employers ignored it.
The amendment will ensure that action would be taken against those who did so and refused to pay a contribution to make up for this.
The contribution, he said, would be used towards ensuring that more disabled people can enter the employment world.
Opposition spokesman David Agius called for workplaces to be accessible. He called for increased awareness of the rights, needs and potential of disabled people.
Agius asked how was the contribution by employers who refused to employ people with a disability to be used. This, he said, should be used for educational purposes, towards educational campaigns, tailor-made job coaching, and the employment of people to assist the disabled in their needs. Transport for people with a disability to go to their place of work should also be provided.
He called for the Commission for Disabled Persons to become answerable to Parliament rather than the minister.
Labour MP Oliver Scicluna, a disabled MP who used to head the Commission for Persons with a Disability recalled his pride at getting his first job at a lotto booth after completing his studies at Mcast.
Employers, he said, are the solution and warned that disabled people should not all be thrown in the same basket because they were all individuals with different needs.
He disagreed that the employer contributions should be used for education and said they should be dedicated solely to employment.
Nationalist MP Ivan Bartolo noted that there were people who suffered from conditions that led to one’s deterioration which were not officially recognised as disabilities and asked if the bill would recognise such people as disabled.
Parliamentary Secretary Deo Debattista said the way forward is to assess the disabled and discover their hidden abilities as this would make it easier for them to join the employment world in a sector that is suitable to their needs.
Nationalist MP Maria Deguara called for the creation of centres disabled people can attend after age 16 to train them for employment and, where this was not possible, to become as independent as possible.