Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 217: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of persons currently employed in his Department whose status has changed to that of disabled since the commencement of their employment with his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31546/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Deputy should be aware that staff in my Department with a disability fall into four broad categories. They are those who joined the Department through special recruitment competitions run by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) for people with disabilities, the last of which I understand was held in 1999; those who more recently joined through the regular PAS competitions having declared their disability; those who did not declare their disability when joining the Department but did so subsequently; and those who developed a disability since joining.

While the Department maintains statistics on staff with a disability, the information requested by the Deputy is not held in a readily accessible format and may indeed require contact with a significant proportion of the staff concerned in order to provide accurate data.

I can, however, inform the Deputy that the proportion of staff with a disability employed in my Department exceeds the Government's 3% target for the employment of people with disabilities across the public sector and currently stands at over 5%. My Department's commitment to the employment of people with disabilities is further underlined by its active participation in a work experience programme for graduates with disabilities, under which 5 people have been placed in the Department over the last two years. I would also like to mention that my Department has appointed a senior official to the position of Disability Liaison Officer, whose role is to act as a point of contact both within and between Departments for information and advice in relation to disability. The Department's Employee Assistance Service also plays a valuable role in this regard.