Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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243. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs 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. [24609/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The civil service is an equal opportunities employer and all recruitment campaigns are conducted in strict compliance with the Codes of Practice set out by the Commission for Public Service Appointments and is subject to the Code of Practice on the Employment of People with Disabilities in the Irish Civil Service.

The civil service is also subject to specific legal obligations in the Disability Act 2005.  Part 5 of the Act sets out the requirement, insofar as practicable:

- to promote and support the employment of people with disabilities;

- to comply with any statutory Code of Practice;

- to meet a target of 3% of employees with disabilities;

- to report every year on achievement of these obligations.  

In early 2013 my Department undertook a staff census of all staff in place as at December 2012 and also noted all staff who had received an accommodation on the basis of a disability. Six members of staff identified themselves as having a disability as defined under the Disability Act 2005. A further two members of staff had received office accommodations, on foot of doctor's reports, based on their disability requirements. These eight members of staff represent 5.8% of the total number of staff in this Department at the end of December 2012. This Department has no subsidiary offices.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is also participating in the Willing Able and Mentoring (WAM) Programme which is a paid mentored work placement programme aimed at graduates with disabilities and has offered a six month placement during 2013.