Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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727. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide a breakdown, by Department or office, of the percentage of employees who have disclosed a disability for the past ten years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20268/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Each year the department conducts an all-staff census of staff to as of the 31st December. This census is anonymised and based on self-declaration of disability by staff who wish to disclose having a disability.

The percentage of employees in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who have disclosed a disability for the past ten years, is set out in tabular form below.

My Department is committed to providing employment opportunities to persons with a disability and as a public service employer has a legal obligation under the Disability Act 2005 to, insofar as practicable, take all reasonable measures to promote and support the employment of people with disabilities.

My Department has in place a dedicated Disability Liaison Officer who acts as a proactive contact for staff with disabilities, to assist and support them, and to assist in the implementation of best Human Resource practices in line with equality legislation.

This role also includes the organisation of work placements in my Department for people with disabilities, specifically for the Willing and Mentoring (WAM) project. This project provides the opportunity for people with disabilities to gain experience in different workplaces through coaching and mentoring, as well as building the capacity of employers to integrate disability into the workplace.

To date, 3 WAM graduates have participated in the permanent pathway competition run by Public Jobs and were successful following their interviews. These 3 graduates subsequently commenced in permanent EO positions with the Department in 2023 and 2024. My Department is participating in the WAM Programme again for 2025/2026, with 3 WAM graduates due to commence their work placements in April.

The Department participated in the OWL Work Experience programme and have an OWL graduate who has been working as a Services Officer in a permanent part time position in our Business Services Unit since 2022.

Also in place is a Disability Monitoring Committee, which serves to monitor the number of employees within my Department and Agencies who have declared a disability, ensure compliance with Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005, and share best practice to support those with disabilities in our workplaces. Through this Committee we have recently established an annual online and confidential census to more accurately measure our progress against national targets.

My Department also places a focus on learning and development opportunities that support people with disabilities in the workplace. This Department is a JAM Card friendly organisation since July 2024 with over 80% of staff having completed the JAM Card e-training.

We also launched our first ED&I Strategy in 2024. As part of this Strategy, we will be making certain training courses compulsory (including JAM card training; IHREC public sector duty training; 'Managing a diverse workforce' training).