Charles Flanagan
Question:16 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he intends reviewing the 3% target for employment of people with disabilities in the public service. [6994/01]
Written Answers - Rights of People with Disabilities.
The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF) commits every Department to taking appropriate action to ensure agencies under its aegis achieve the 3% target for the employment of people with disabilities in the public service at an early date. Consequently, I have no plans to review the 3% target during the lifetime of the programme.
To address this commitment we established a monitoring committee in 1999. The monitoring committee is responsible for monitoring the achievement of the 3% target for employment of people with disabilities in the public service, excluding the Civil Service. The Department of Finance is responsible for monitoring progress in the Civil Service. The membership of the committee is comprised of representatives from Departments, employers, trade unions and the disability interest groups.
The monitoring committee seeks to support Departments in pursuing the achievement of the target. Over the past two years the committee has:
Approved a draft code of practice for use in the public service;
Raised awareness of the 3% target by giving information to chief executives, personnel officers and disability equality officers in the public service through:
–a series of eight regional seminars,
–publication of an information brochure,
–research on the issues and barriers relating to achievement of the target in six public service organisations. A report on this research is due to be published in the coming months.
The awareness raising, information giving and research initiatives were undertaken with the approval of the committee in partnership by my Department and the Equality Authority. I am confident that the benefits of these initiatives will be reflected in the statistical returns of the organisations concerned during the coming years.