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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 May 2003

Vol. 566 No. 1

Written Answers. - Departmental Staff.

David Stanton

Question:

178 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Defence the policy of his Department with regard to the employment of persons with disabilities; the actions that have been taken to encourage, enable and assist people with disabilities to gain employment in his Department and in bodies under the aegis of his Department; the current situation with regard to persons with disabilities employed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12145/03]

My Department is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for persons with disabilities and to the policies that apply across the Civil Service generally with regard to the code of practice for the employment of people with disabilities in the Civil Service.

The Office of the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commissioners is responsible for the recruitment of personnel into the Civil Service and assigns personnel to individual Departments and offices, including my Department. A limited number of appointments are filled directly by my Department, including those of services officer, services attendant, night-watchman and cleaner. In addition, a number of civilians are employed with the Defence Forces at military barracks and are mainly engaged in building work and maintenance and on clerical, domestic and other duties. The percentage of civil servants with a disability employed in the Department is currently 4.1% and the percentage of civilians employed by the Department with the Defence Forces throughout the country is currently 2.3%.

My Department strongly subscribes to the objective of employing persons with disabilities whenever possible. Offices which are open to the public are accessible to people with disabilities. Interpreters are provided at interviews if requested. Disability awareness training has been made available to staff throughout the Department.
The Defence Forces have a derogation from the Employment Equality Act in respect of the criteria of physical ability and age. Therefore, the current age, medical and physical requirements for entry into the Defence Forces reflect the fact that only able bodied and fit recruits can satisfy the difficult and strenuous physical demands of the training and operational environment of the Defence Forces.
There are four bodies under the aegis of my Department, namely, the Civil Defence Board, the Army Pensions Board, Coiste an Asgard and the Irish Red Cross Society. The current staff of the Civil Defence Board are serving civil servants of the Department. The Army Pensions Board consists of a chairperson, an ordinary member and a member of the Permanent Defence Force. There are no persons employed by the board. There are no persons with a disability employed by Coiste an Asgard. It would not be practical to employ a person with a disability as a member of the professional crew of the sail training vessel, Asgard. The Irish Red Cross Society is an autonomous body with full powers to manage and administer its affairs through its governing body, the Central Council. It adheres to the general public service guidelines on the employment of persons with a disability.
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