Written Answers. - Employment of Disabled Persons.
Richard Bruton
Question:
345
Mr. R. Bruton
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the action he intends to take against Government Departments and agencies which are failing to reach the 3% target for the employment of disabled persons.
[26353/02]
A Government commitment in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness requires that "every Department will take appropriate action to ensure that agencies under its aegis achieve the 3% target for the employment of people with disabilities in the Public Service at an early date". Accordingly, it is the responsibility of each individual Department to consider the question of the action to be taken against agencies under their aegis that fail to reach the 3% target for employment of people with disabilities.
A monitoring committee established and chaired by my Department helps to monitor and guide progress in relation to the target. It has supported a number of initiatives in recent years including approval of a draft code of practice for use in the public service and exploration of the options for common selection procedures for people with disabilities; raising awareness of the 3% target among, and giving information to, chief executives, personnel officers and disability equality officers in the public service through a series of eight regional seminars and publication of an information brochure; publication of a brochure designed to encourage people with disabilities to consider a career in the public service and promotion of this option at the Public Sector Careers Expo in April 2001; and commissioned research on the issues and barriers relating to achievement of the target in six public service organisations.
The report, published in November 2001 and titled Research Project on the Effective Recruitment of People with Disabilities in the Public Service provides an insight into some of the issues which hinder progress and includes recommendations to assist future progress. My Department, in partnership with the Equality Authority, launched an employer resource pack on 3 December 2002 to assist public service employers in the recruitment and retention of people with disabilities. My Department also collects data in relation to the 3% target for employment of people with disabilities in the public service, excluding the Civil Service data which is collected by the equality unit in the Department of Finance. Although the target has yet to be achieved, there has been a degree of progress over the past number of years. The overall statistics for the public service, other than the Civil Service, at 1 January each year are as follows:
|
Year
|
%
|
|
1998
|
1.52
|
|
1999
|
1.72
|
|
2000
|
1.89
|
|
2001
|
2.00
|
The figures given for January 2000 and January 2001 are provisional figures as returns are outstanding from a number of individual public service bodies.
My colleague, the Minister for Finance, is responsible for the 3% target of employment of people with disabilities within the Civil Service. The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness included a commitment to a review of the employment of people with a disability in the Civil Service to ascertain ongoing adherence to the 3% employment target. Departments met the target in the mid-1990s. However, since then the percentage has dropped below the target and as at December 2001 the percentage of people with a disability in the Civil Service was 2.78%. The fact that the percentage has dropped below 3% is a cause for concern and the Department of Finance has written to the all heads of Departments and offices to ensure that they are aware of their legal obligations and of the importance of reaching and maintaining the 3% target.
All Departments are required to appoint a disability liaison officer to act on behalf of people with disabilities within Departments. In 2001, the Department of Finance established a network of disability liaison officers which meets regularly. A programme of special training for all disability liaison officers and human resource managers in Departments was held in March and April 2002.
In light of the commitment in the PPF and in order to establish how to improve adherence to the target, the Department of Finance, in partnership with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Civil Service Commission, commissioned a study on the career progression of people with a disability in the Irish Civil Service. The research, which was carried out by a team led by Goodbody economic consultants, is completed and will be published in early 2003. The research maps out the current arrangements in respect of career progression for people with disabilities, highlights the challenges they face when seeking to progress their careers and makes recommendations for a model of best practice in this area for the future. The Department of Finance is considering the recommendations and will be making proposals shortly.
