Armenian MP addresses employment issues for people with disabilities at PACE session
Armenian lawmaker Mikayel Melkumyan, the spokesman for the European Conservatives Group, touched upon the current issues of employment discrimination at a plenary meeting of the PACE winter session on Wednesday.
The MP noted that the problems that our fellow citizens – people with disabilities – face are across the board, in all countries across the world, calling for practical solutions that deliver results.
He stressed the need to ensure that each country does its utmost to try to deal with the problems of inclusion for people with disabilities.
“Let me turn to the official statistics for the various member States. Invalidity rates start at 6% or 7%, and go right up to 14% or 15% in certain countries. Those figures depend on the statistical methods used to evaluate invalidity. However, we have seen a major increase in migration over the last 10 years, and this is very negative.
The time has come to put forward new ideas to address this issue. We need a social compromise between citizens, society, governments and businesses. Every business must know why they are paying tax and what the government is doing to lay the groundwork to ensure that businesses – particularly small and medium-sized ones – can take on people with disabilities.
Governments should use a system similar to the generalised scheme of preferences plus – that is, tax breaks to encourage an inclusive approach to employing people with disabilities. Companies that achieve those targets should be supported.
The whole European Conservatives Group will be supporting the amendments, and I commend them to members,” Melkumyan said in his speech.