Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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290. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the absolute and relative number of persons with disabilities employed by her Department in each of the years 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2020; if these persons are in full-time or part-time roles; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4536/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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My Department is obliged to report every year to the National Disability Authority (NDA) on the number of persons with disabilities employed at 31^stDecember. This information is published on the website of the NDA - nda.ie.

My Department was formed in its current configuration in 2020. The relevant statistics for 2020 are currently being collated to meet statutory reporting deadlines in 2021.

I am informed that statistics for previous configurations of my Department for the years 2015 to 2018 have been published and, for 2019, have been returned to the NDA. The table below shows the relevant information for each previous iteration of my Department in the years 2015 to 2019. It should be noted that the numbers listed below only reflect persons that have declared a disability, and that the declaration of a disability is voluntary. Statistics for 2015 to 2019 relating to the tourism, sport, and media functions are included in the returns to the NDA from, respectively, the then Departments of Transport, Tourism and Sport, and Communications, Environment and Climate Change.

My Department strives to create a culture where the employee feels comfortable to declare their disability. This ensures any reasonable accommodations can be met, if required. Anonymity and confidentiality are crucial to a high rate of survey returns and the information gathered is only used for statistical purposes. Personal details such as name and work pattern are not recorded, therefore I cannot provide a breakdown of persons working full-time or part-time.