Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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158. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the target of her Department and subsidiary offices throughout the country regarding employment of persons in the special category with disabilities and if the target being achieved; the total number of employees in that category currently and the percentage of the total workforce in her Department that it represents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24620/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Public service bodies are subject to specific legal obligations set out in the Disability Act 2005. Under the Act, public sector bodies are obliged to meet a target of ensuring that 3% of their employees are people with disabilities. Compliance with this target is monitored by the National Disability Authority.

The total number of employees in the Department at the end of December 2012 was 7,148. The total number of persons who disclosed a disability to the Department’s Disability Liaison Officer was 315, equating to 4.4% of the workforce, thereby exceeding the 3% target.

The 2012 figures for the Department’s agencies (Citizen’s Information Board, Office of the Pensions Ombudsman and the Pensions Board) are not yet available. However, in 2011, the number of employees in these agencies was 153, six of whom were persons declaring a disability – or 3.9% of the workforce.