Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 March 2021
53. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the engagement he has had on the policy of progressing disability services; and if he has contacted other Ministers regarding the policy. [16176/21]
View answerDisability services in Ireland are provided through a mix of HSE direct provision as well as through non-statutory Section 38/39 service providers and private providers. The Department of Health currently has responsibility for Government policy on disability services. While my Department engages with the Department of Health on expenditure on disability services, the progression of these policies is a matter for that Department and the HSE.
As the Deputy may be aware, work on the transfer of disability services provided by the HSE is ongoing between the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. My Department has been in contact with both and will continue to engage as part of the transfer of the associated budget and related issues as necessary.
With regard to the Civil Service, at the end of 2019, 5.1% of civil servants self-declared as having as having a disability. There are many positive examples of how my Department, working alongside key stakeholders in the Civil Service including the Public Appointments Services, has been involved in promoting employment pathways for persons with a disability.
In partnership with AHEAD, and funded by the Department of Social Protection, the Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) Programme offers graduates with a disability a six-month mentored paid work placement in either the private sector or civil service. Since 2005, WAM has placed over 490 graduates, of which 47% (230) have been placements in the Civil Service. My Department plays a key role in driving the Programme on an ongoing basis by engaging with HR Managers and Disability Liaison Officers across all Government Department to identify appropriate posts for WAM work experience placements, with our colleagues in PAS subsequently facilitating the recruitment process in tandem with AHEAD. Key statistics collated by AHEAD show that 80% of WAM graduates subsequently secured longer-term employment upon completion of their WAM placement, over 94% of graduates gained confidence in their ability to work in a mainstream environment and 71% of graduates were no longer in receipt of any disability payments. My Department and PAS, in conjunction with AHEAD, are currently exploring the feasibility of a confined competition to create a permanent path for employment in the civil service for WAM graduates upon successful completion of their work placement.
The Oireachtas Work Learning (OWL) Programme is an applied learning, development and socialisation programme for adults with an intellectual disability that was launched as a pilot programme in September 2018. It is facilitated by the Houses of the Oireachtas Service in collaboration with two sponsor organisations, KARE and WALK. The goal of the Programme is to provide trainees with the skills, knowledge and ability to gain meaningful employment via the unique opportunity to gain practical work experience, as well as accredited learning over an 11 month period. Over a quarter of the initial OWL interns have since gone on to secure permanent civil service employment through confined competitions.
Finally, within my own Department, just over 3% of DPER staff identified themselves as having a disability in the 2020 annual disability census. The Department’s HR Strategy Unit and the Disability Liaison Officer (DLO) support new members of staff with a disability or existing staff who acquire a disability and raise awareness about disability. New hires receive the Code of Practice for the Employment of People with a Disability in the Irish Civil Service, a welcome letter from the Department’s DLO and FAQs on Disability prepared by the National Disability Authority. The induction of new hires includes a presentation and Q&A session with the Disability Liaison Officer. The Diversity and Inclusion sub-group within the PERspectives group, a cross-grade cross-divisional staff forum to support the Department’s People Strategy, also contributes to the cultivation of a diverse and inclusive culture across the Department. To mark the 2020 International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December, a presentation to raise awareness about autism was delivered by AsIAm.
