site.btaDisabled People Are a Big Reserve for Labour Market, that Remains Unused - Union of the Blind

The picture of the labour market for disabled people in Bulgaria is deplorable: it is far from the European standards, little efforts are made to train the disabled and make work places suitable for them, the Chairman of the Union of the Blind in Bulgaria, Vassil Dolapchiev, said here Wednesday. She was speaking during a meeting of the parliamentary labour, social and demographic policy committee. The meeting invited representatives of organizations of people with disabilities to discuss contemplated revisions in the legislation related to social services, personal aid and support for the disabled.

The Chair of the National Association of Disabled People's Employers, Marinela Angelova, said that the subsidies for companies hiring disabled workers have decreased dramatically and are available for equipment - not for the workers themselves. She said that the managers in these companies often have to double as psychologists and even doctors as they get no support for meeting workers' specific needs.

Georgi Kolev of the Union of Disabled People in Bulgaria called for changes in the rules for aiding disabled people in the purchase of a car and remodeling their home. As a result of excessively high standards for this aid, only four people out of 38,500 for whom the aid was designed, used it to purchase cars in 2020. Only 23 claimed the aid for home refurbishment.

He also called for doubling the support for people with 50 to 70.99 per cent of disability. This support currently stands at 7 per cent of the poverty line, which is 413 leva for 2022.

Veska Subeva of the Association of Epileptic Children's Parents said that the Social Services Act need time, at least by mid-2023, before it can be assessed and or revised.

The chair of the parliamentary social committee, Iskren Arabadjiev, said that Parliament will make serious changes to improve the legislation for disabled people but to do that it needs to hear all stakeholders. Wednesday's meeting was the first in a series of planned meetings, he said.