Crumlin, Dublin: 28th November 2007 – Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin TD today opened the Microsoft supported Enable Ireland National Assistive Technology Training Centre in Crumlin. The Centre is the first of its kind in Ireland and will provide a central location for helping people with disabilities to access training using Assistive Technology (AT), using a train the trainers model. The AT centre has evolved through a close partnership between Microsoft and Enable Ireland that started in 2000. Microsoft today announced it will be extending its support for Enable Ireland’s work in Assistive Technology in 2008 with a further grant of $90,000 (€60,000).

Assistive Technology (AT) is one of the major enablers in helping people with disabilities to live independently, access education and enter the workforce. With over 70% of AT being discarded due to a lack of training, Enable Ireland’s services are helping to bring the full benefits of the technology to the people who need it. AT also benefits those who either acquire injuries or disabilities at work who might otherwise have to retire or take sick leave. On a global scale the most conservative estimate of the related costs of Repetitive Strain Injury for example (RSI) runs into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

In Ireland today, 67% of people with disabilities are unemployed, at a time when our national unemployment rate stands at 4.8%. A recent European return-to-work survey carried out by the Work Research Centre and UCD found that half of all Irish people who had a serious illness or disability were not back at work 6 months later. In contrast, almost 80% of Dutch workers in similar circumstances went back to work. Only about 15% of the people reported that they received help returning to work in Ireland.
Enable Ireland provides a range of AT training courses. However the growing demand for such training means there was a need for a full-time facility. As a result Enable Ireland, with support from Microsoft, has created Ireland’s first National Assistive Technology Training Centre. The new centre will provide AT training and advice all year round to an estimated 700 people.


Sylvie Laffarge, Director of Microsoft Community Affairs EMEA; Siobhan Long, Manager Assistive Technology Training Enable Ireland; Fionnuala O'Donovan, Chief Executive Officer, Enable Ireland, and Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment pictured at the opening ceremony.

Speaking at the opening of the Centre, Minister Martin said, “I commend Enable Ireland and Microsoft for their vision in opening the National Assistive Technology Training Centre. Research shows that up to 70% of all Assistive Technology can be abandoned due to a lack of training and lack of access to dedicated facilities such as this Centre. I hope that the Centre will help to ensure that the work place is accessible to as wide an audience as possible, including people with disabilities. Every person with a disability should have the opportunity to develop his or her skills and to participate in society to the fullest possible extent. The economic contribution of people with disabilities is vital and it is important that we ensure that it is possible for as many people with disabilities as possible to remain in the workforce. The Government is committed to playing its part in that process and is delighted to support the opening of this facility.”
Siobhan Long of Enable Ireland said, “Assistive Technology is a tool for everyone. It can be something as simple as an alternative keyboard or mouse, or as sophisticated as a voice output communication device that enables a person who is non-verbal to communicate effectively. International AT role models include Professor Stephen Hawking, who has harnessed AT to its fullest potential to communicate globally about the origins of our universe. Enable Ireland is proud of its track record in promoting Assistive Technology across mainstream employers and educators, and has consistently championed the participation of people with disabilities in all of its AT training initiatives. Our continually evolving partnership with Microsoft is a crucial linchpin in our work programme, the ultimate aim of which is to put Assistive Technology into the hands of people with disabilities so that they can achieve maximum independence, choice and inclusion in their lives.”
Sylvie Laffarge, Director of Community Affairs, Microsoft EMEA noted, “At Microsoft we have a vision of helping people to realize their full potential. Enable Ireland is a community partner who embodies that vision. Assistive Technology can change people’s lives from helping them to lead an independent life to getting back into the work force. We are proud of our long association with Enable Ireland and the success they have transforming people’s lives with Assistive Technology – creating a more inclusive society which benefits us all.”

Services Provided by the National Assistive Technology Training Centre:

• Promotes the benefits of AT in employment and education through delivery of AT Seminars to Employers and Educators.


• Supports Enable Ireland’s AT Training Service with a suite of IT hardware and software to facilitate the delivery of a quality AT training programme, utilising new and emerging technologies and devices.


• Customises AT training workshops in partnership with local Enable Ireland centres, in response to specific, identified local AT needs.


• Develops and delivering training on the benefits of Environmental Control technologies (such as electronic door openers, alternative remote controls for personal leisure devices such as DVD, Music, Mobile Phone technologies and Digital Cameras) to Adult Service Users nationally.