Dáil debates
Tuesday, 4 July 2023
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Disability Services
10:20 pm
Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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67. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on the programme for Government’s commitment to double the target for employment of people with disabilities in the public service to 6%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32325/23]
Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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There is dignity and opportunity in having a job. Yet for many people with disabilities this is denied them. The programme for Government has a target of doubling the numbers of people with disabilities employed in the State services. Can the Minister of State give an outline of the efforts to bring that about?
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I am fully committed to ensuring that more people with disabilities are employed in the public service. The public service must show leadership in this area.
Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 sets out obligations on public bodies to promote and support the employment of people with disabilities. The obligation previously set a minimum target such that 3% of public sector workers should be persons with disabilities. Government has doubled that statutory target for the employment of people with disabilities in the public sector via the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity (Amendment) Act 2022. This measure was commenced by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, in April. The disability Act was amended and the minimum target was doubled from 3% to 6%. This will increase on a phased basis to 4.5% on 1 January 2024, and to 6% on 1 January 2025.
I will be contacting my ministerial colleagues to draw attention to the increased targets and to the implications for their Departments and bodies under their aegis. I will also be making contact with bodies under the aegis of my Department and with the HSE.
The National Disability Authority, NDA, prepares an annual report on compliance with Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 each year. The most recent report relates to figures for 2021. The then minimum target of 3% was exceeded by the public service as a whole for the 11th year in a row, as it stood at an overall figure of 3.6 %. This figure of 3.6% is very small and make us outliers in Europe, and there is no denying that.
Although there is certainly work to be done to ensure the 6% target is met, the overall trend in recent years is encouraging. The report on compliance in 2021 indicates that 36.5% of public bodies were already meeting the new target. This represents a positive increase on the previous year's figure of only 28.4%. In 2021, the overall number of public sector employees reporting a disability increased by 18% on the previous year's figures.
Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The minimum statutory employment target is set at 3%, as the Minister of State said, with a view to doubling that to 6% in 2025. That was enacted recently as part of the assisted decision making Act. As the Minister of State outlined, the NDA has a role in reporting and monitoring. She referred to its most recent report from 2021 showing the percentage at 3.6% across all sectors.
Unfortunately, 27 of the 213 public bodies did not make that target. All of the organisations must comply by 2025. Will the Minister of State outline what steps will be taken to progress that so that all of the organisations will meet the targets? She is looking at a target of 4% for next year and already a number of organisations have been falling behind on what is needed. We must remember that it is not about targets, it is about giving opportunity, dignity and employment to people, and that must be front and centre all the time.
10:30 pm
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Moynihan has clearly identified that 12.7% of public bodies did not reach the minimum target. When the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and I met recently with the board of the HSE, this was one particular issue we raised with them and drew to their attention. The HSE has also indicated improvements on previous performance. That is significant given the scale of the HSE as a public sector employer. The NDA is currently engaging in a strategic process of engagement with a designated team that has been appointed in the HSE to focus on improving the performance of public bodies under Part 5 of the Act. I understand that, as a result of this process, the HSE is making progress towards meeting its obligations under Part 5. In 2020 and 2021, it has been reporting a slight increase in the number and percentage of employees reporting a disability. While I give the HSE as an example, it is not alone. It is not unique. If we can get a system and a framework in place with one particular organisation, we should be able to mirror it across others.
Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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One of the issues that has been raised with me by a number of different people is that they feel there is almost a redefinition of what might be considered a person with disabilities. It has almost been broadened out to some extent, so that people who are possibly currently in employment might help to improve the figures, as it were. Unfortunately, others who are not currently in employment might not make it. Basically, there is a kind of a softening of the definition. That would be to the detriment of people with disabilities who are not in employment at the moment and do not have the opportunity to get a job. Is the Minister of State aware of any such situations where there will be a redefinition or redesigning of disability? Does she have a view on that?
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I do have a view on it. My view is that we do not have a clear understanding of disabilities. All of us talk about awareness, but where is the understanding? The understanding of disabilities is that every one of us who reaches 50 years of age will be dependent on a piece of assistive technology to get us through our day. That is an acknowledgement and an understanding, but for people who have profound or complex disabilities, a physical or mental disability or who is neurodiverse, we must understand how to have inclusion and participation within the workforce and what accommodations can be put in place, be it within the public sector, to ensure a person can have an active, meaningful participation in work. As Deputy Moynihan knows, that is one of the pillars that lifts a person out of poverty.
The most important piece here is the engagement that will have to happen within the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The working week needs to be reduced from 19 hours to 14 hours so more people are able to participate in the workforce. Until we change that lever, regardless of our terminology, we will not have more people participating. That lever needs to be changed, and that is within the gift of our Departments.