Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the position regarding recruiting persons with a disability; the number of persons currently employed in his Department; the number of persons with a disability that have been employed since 1 January 2011 to date in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37838/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Although the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has its own recruitment licence issued by the Commission on Public Service Appointments, most recruitment to the Department is handled centrally by the Public Appointments Service using open competitions. The Deputy will appreciate that the number of new recruits to the Department in 2011 and 2012 to-date has been negligible. No officer with a disability was recruited during that time. The Department carefully monitors its staffing complement to ensure that it exceeds the Government target of 3% of staff with a disability, which is applicable across the Public Service. The position is reviewed annually on the basis of self-declaration, in line with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform guidelines. The review conducted in December 2011 indicated that 52 of the Department’s staff had a disability, representing some 3.7%.