Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills 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. [37835/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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My Department fully complies with all codes of practice in relation to the recruitment and employment of persons with a disability in the Civil Service. As at the end of December 2011, as provided for under Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005, my Department reported to the National Disability Authority (NDA) a staffing of 1,339 employees of whom 46 (3.4%) had a declared disability. As disability is subject to self-disclosure, all staff recruited into the Department are provided with a Staff Census Form (NDA Form S1) wherein they can declare that they have a disability. All completed forms are returned in confidence to the Department's Disability Liaison Officer (DLO) for statistical purposes.

Since 1 January 2011, one officer transferred into this Department and declared a disability. A further employee has acquired a disability since that date. No officer newly recruited since 1 January 2011 has declared a disability. My Department also fully participates in initiatives such as the Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) programme and in the Job Shadow Initiative (JSI) which aim to increase an awareness of disability within the workplace.