Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 March 2018
165. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Skills the percentage of persons employed in his Department that have a disability, expressed in whole-time equivalent terms and in head count terms; and the way in which the number of persons with disabilities employed compares with national targets. [14437/18]
View answerThe Disability Act 2005 requires public bodies to promote and support the employment of people with disabilities and to achieve a target of 3% of staff with disabilities. In this Department in 2016 the percentage of employees with a disability under the definition of the Disability Act 2005 was 3.94% (head count) and 3.78% (whole time equivalent).
Under the comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities, which was published in 2015, the Government committed to progressively increasing the public employment target of 3% to 6%. This Department and its agencies will work to achieve the new targets in the coming years.
