The VVD wants to help as many people as possible who are at a distance from the labor market find work. Today the House is debating the proposals for reform of the disability system and the advice given by the Octas Committee on this matter. “It has to be simpler,” says VVD MP Daan de Kort, who first wants to look at the unused labor potential, “before we look at labor migration.”
VVD: look at the use of disabled people, instead of labor migration
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De Kort is an expert by experience: he became virtually blind at the age of fifteen and reluctantly received a Wajong benefit at the age of eighteen. ‘I think you should look at the people. Not according to their limitations, but according to their talents.’ Octas is the committee established by Minister Karien van Gennip that looks at the future sustainability of the Dutch disability system. De Kort believes that the WIA has become a ‘very complex arrangement’ due to a combination of circumstances and conflicting elements.
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‘There must be a decent arrangement for people who really can no longer work, but there is certainly much more possible’
Clearer and simpler
According to De Kort, it should be clearer and simpler. He lacks the incentives in the current system that encourage people to look at their untapped (or remaining) potential. ‘We now look too much at people’s disability, I think we should look at their fitness for work.’ De Kort’s criticism is that the system works with a so-called ‘job options list’, where the degree of unsuitability is checked off as a percentage. The MP advocates the introduction of a talent indication.
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Shared responsibility
‘There must be a decent arrangement for people who really can no longer work. But much more is certainly possible.’ De Kort believes that society as a whole has a responsibility in this regard given the tight labor market. However, he does advocate facilities that make it more attractive for employers to hire people with disabilities or to offer opportunities to people who need support.
Also read | ‘People have to work more to solve the labor market problem’
Labor migration
De Kort believes that it should first be examined to what extent people with disabilities can work before actively importing labor from abroad. ‘There are still plenty of people on the sidelines, let’s first look at the untapped labor potential before we look at labor migration.’
