Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 164: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the criteria for persons with disabilities for seeking employment opportunities within his Department; the application procedures that apply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37266/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The Public Appointments Service (PAS) is the centralised recruitment body for the civil service and is responsible for the recruitment of all persons, including persons with disabilities, for the main civil service grades. Recruitment competitions run by PAS are open to all, including people with disabilities, subject to their meeting the eligibility requirements of the competition in question. PAS also holds competitions specifically for persons with disabilities from time to time. The entry requirements and the standard necessary to pass these confined competitions are identical to those pertaining to the open competitions.

My Department is directly responsible for recruitment of its staff at the Services grades. Recruitment for these grades is conducted through advertisement with FAS and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply for these positions. My Department also engages in some direct recruitment of temporary staff outside Dublin to cover short-term absences such as the summer Term Time period or maternity leave. As is the case with all appointments to the civil service, these appointments are subject to the person being suitable for the duties of the position being filled.

The Disability Act, 2005, provides a statutory basis for the implementation and compliance monitoring of the 3% recruitment target for the public sector. The current position in my Department is that 149 or 3.14% of the total staff of the Department are persons with disabilities. In line with the provisions of the Disability Act, specific commitments in relation to human resources and employment practices for staff with disabilities were included in my Department's Sectoral Plan which was published in July 2006. One of these commitments is to continue to work closely with PAS with the objective of ensuring best practice in the area of the recruitment and assignment of staff with disabilities.