Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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485. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the policy regarding the employment of persons with disabilities in his Department and in each State and semi-State body under the aegis of his Department; if there is a responsibility to employ persons with disabilities to a quota of 3% of its workforce; if this quota has now been exceeded; if there has been an advertised competition in relation to this quota; if not, the reason therefor; the dates and details of such competitions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27135/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Disability Act 2005 requires public bodies to promote and support the employment of people with disabilities and to achieve a target of 3% of staff with disabilities. It also provides a framework for monitoring the employment target through monitoring committees in Government Departments. The role of the monitoring committees is to monitor and, in consultation with the National Disability Authority (NDA), encourage compliance with the Act by all public bodies under its aegis. In this Department in 2016 the percentage of employees with a disability under the definition in the Disability Act 2005 is 3.94%.  

Under relevant legislation, aegisbodies of my Department are required to provide my Department’s Monitoring Committee with data on the number of people with disabilities employed in respect of the preceding year for inclusion in an overall report to NDA. The purpose of the report is to analyse the implementation of Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 Section 47 and to facilitate the evaluation of compliance by the NDA and the Monitoring Committee, for bodies who have not met the 3% target.

Of the eighteen bodies required to report under the legislation, thirteen have reported 3% or higher of their staff as having a disability and overall compliance was up from 3.8% in 2015 to 4% in 2016.

Under the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities, which was published in 2015, the Government committed to progressively increasing the public service employment target from 3% towards 6% by 2024. Special public service competitions for people with disabilities will be arranged and will open up alternative recruitment channels for people with disabilities. The Department and its agencies will work to achieve the new targets in the coming years.