Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 468: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people employed by the Equality Authority; the percentage of those who are women or have a disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21643/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I would first clarify for the Deputy that the Equality Authority, which falls within the remit of my Department, does not recruit its own staff. General service staff are assigned to the Equality Authority by my Department's Human Resources Division as vacancies arise. There are currently 54 people employed in the Equality Authority, 61% of whom are women.

My Department maintains records on staff with a disability on the basis of self-declaration which is provided on a confidential basis. As the Equality Authority has a relatively small number of staff, I am reluctant to state the percentage of those staff with a disability. I can say, however, that my Department, as a whole, exceeds the 3% target for staff with a disability.