Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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600. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number or percentage of employees in her Department and in the agencies under her aegis with intellectual disabilities; her plans to increase this number to promote and support the employment of persons with intellectual disabilities as outlined in the Disability Act 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17483/19]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I am advised that my Department and the bodies under its aegis complies with Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005. This requires all departments and bodies under its aegis to make a return to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the National Disability Authority on how many employees have disclosed a disability. My Department provides a Part 5 return on an annual basis.  In 2017 staff with disabilities made up 3.1% of our workforce in the Department and 4.8% in the bodies under the aegis of the Department. My Department and the bodies under its aegis do not generally recruit staff directly; the Public Appointments Service (PAS) is used to fill most vacancies.

The underpinning of this process is that these figures are based upon the voluntary disclosure that staff and agencies make. If employees with intellectual disabilities require accommodation in order to conduct their work, this will be made available to them upon request.

Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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601. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her Department and the agencies under her aegis track the numbers of employees they have with an intellectual disability; her plans to do so in order to help set targets and increase workplace opportunities for those with intellectual disabilities such as those outlined in the national disability inclusion strategy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17500/19]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I am advised that my department and the bodies under its aegis complies with Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005. This requires all Departments and bodies under its aegis to make a return to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the National Disability Authority on how many employees we have who have disclosed a disability. My department provides a Part 5 return on an annual basis. In 2017 our staff with disabilities made up 3.1% of our workforce in the Department and 4.8% in the bodies under the aegis of the department

The underpinning of this process is that our figures are based upon the voluntary disclosure that our staff and agencies make.

While we do not track the numbers of employees with intellectual disabilities we do endeavour to meet the needs of all staff with intellectual disabilities with regard to accommodation requirements or any training and development needs as and when required.

My Department has participated fully in the implementation of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy by:-

- Progressing and reporting on the relevant actions contained in the Strategy by means of consultation with the relevant line Divisions.  Preparation of this report is coordinated by the Corporate Governance Unit.

- Attendance at the quarterly Steering Group meetings by a department official (Corporate Governance Unit).

- The establishment of a Disability Consultative Committee (DCC).