Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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322. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the low levels of persons with disabilities employed in third level education institutions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39503/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 requires that public bodies promote and support the employment of people with disabilities and ensure that 3% of staff employed by them are people with disabilities. Under Part 5 of the Act, departmental monitoring committees furnish an annual report on the performance of its aegis bodies for the previous year.

In accordance with the statutory requirement to do so in June of this year, and ahead of the Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2020, the Department of Education Monitoring Committee furnished its report for 2019 on performance by its aegis bodies, including the higher education institutes that are obliged to report under the provisions of the Act.

All of the aegis bodies reporting under the Act achieved the minimum compliance level under Part 5 in 2019. Overall an average compliance level in excess of 4% was reported to the NDA for 2019 on behalf of all of the aegis bodies. My Department will continue to support and monitor the employment of persons with disabilities in higher education institutions, raising awareness on the available resources to do so and also on the commitment in the Programme for Government to increase the minimum compliance target to 6% by 2024.