Vol. 447 No. 1
89 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the proportion of new recruits to each Government Department in each of the past three years who have been persons with a disability; and the steps, if any, he is taking to ensure that regular information of this type is brought to the attention of each Department. [3259/94]
The information requested by the Deputy is not available within my Department. While the Civil Service Commission from time to time holds competitions confined solely to people who are registered as having a disability, it is open to anyone with or without a disability to apply for any open recruitment competition for which they are eligible. There are no central records of the number of staff with disabilities recruited by means of standard open competitions or their date of appointment. The information on newly recruited staff supplied by Departments to the central database in my Department does not identify staff with disabilities, nor do I consider it appropriate that it should.
Each Head of Department is fully aware of the Government policy in relation to the employment of people with disabilities. In addition, the Code of Practice for the Employment of People with Disabilities in the Civil Service, a copy of which is issued to all staff, calls on all Government Departments to continue to play their full part in employing people with disabilities.
