At WALK we believe that everyone who wants to work, have a job and a career can do so, given the right supports. Our role is to facilitate individuals to fulfil their career and employment ambitions in life by supporting them to realise their potential, access opportunities and build their own natural supports.

Article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognises the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others; this includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities.

WALK have developed and piloted two innovative programmes aimed at increasing the rate of employment for people with intellectual disabilities and Autism in Ireland.

The OWL Programme is an applied learning, development, and socialisation programme for adults with an intellectual disability which was launched as a pilot programme by the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl TD in September 2018. The Houses of the Oireachtas is the first Parliament in the world to host a programme of this kind. The OWL Programme is facilitated by the Houses of the Oireachtas Service in collaboration with WALK and KARE. The programme is also supported by the Adult Education Service run by the City of Dublin Education and Training Board and by the Health Service Executive.

The goal of the OWL Programme is to provide trainees with the skills, knowledge and ability to gain meaningful paid employment. It offers a unique opportunity to gain practical work experience and for trainees to be accredited for their learning, with a QQI module built into the week. The trainees complete 3 “rotations” (work experience placements) in different sections of the Houses of the Oireachtas, as an opportunity to experience different types of working environments.

You can read more about the OWL Programme, and download the Toolkits for Public Sector organisations here:

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/how-parliament-is-run/houses-of-the-oireachtas-service/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/owl-programme/