John Bruton
Question:77 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Health the number of physically handicapped persons employed in the Public Health Service.
Written Answers. - Public Service Employment.
The most recent information available to my Department on employment of persons with disabilities in the public health service relates to those employed in the health boards and specialist health agencies.
At the end of December 1992, the number of persons with disabilities employed in the bodies in question was 433, compared with 415 in December 1991. On the basis of the December 1992 information, employment of persons with disabilities stands at 1.08 per cent of total staffing in the area.
Since compiling this information, a new definition of a disabled person has been adopted by theProgramme for Economic and Social Progress Monitoring Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities in the Public Service and the Private Sector for monitoring purposes. I will be writing to all health agencies in the near future with a view to obtaining an accurate assessment of the number of staff with disabilities employed on the basis of the new definition.
I should add that I am committed to the objective of achieving the 3 per cent employment quota for people with disabilities in the health service. While the employment of staff is, in the first instance, a matter for each health agency, I will continue to impress on each agency the need to have due regard to the commitment to the disabled when recruiting staff and in cases where the quota has not been achieved, to make every effort to secure an appropriate increase in the number of disabled employed consistent with operational and employment control requirements.