Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 503: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs 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. [34016/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The current position in my Department is that 149 or 3.14 % of the total staff of my Department are persons with disabilities.

The majority of people with disabilities who are employed in my Department were recruited by way of competitions, conducted by the Public Appointments Service (PAS). There are two competition methods which PAS use to recruit persons with disabilities; the standard open competition and confined competitions held specifically for persons with disabilities.

The format in which records are held in my Department is not amenable to analysis as to whether the person acquired the disability since commencing employment with the organisation or beforehand. In recent years, the Department has encouraged, via various channels, e.g. internal circulars and staff magazines, confidential self-disclosure of a disability.

This has resulted in a number of staff members advising the Department's Disability Liaison Officer that they have a disability or have acquired one, in some cases since they commenced employment in the Department.

The policy of encouraging self-disclosure is aimed primarily at identifying any particular needs of the person with the disability. This also adds to the corporate knowledge regarding disability issues, facilitating the development of effective and progressive departmental policies for staff with disabilities generally.