In accordance with the Disability Act 2005, statistics on the number of employees within my Department who have declared a disability are compiled and submitted to the National Disability Authority annually. The figures are compiled retrospectively during the first quarter of each year in respect of the previous year and therefore, the figures for 2021 are not available currently. In 2020, 4.28% of civil servants and 6.15% of civilian employees had declared a disability. It should be noted that there is no onus on an employee to declare a disability.
The only State body currently under the aegis of my Department is the Army Pensions Board which is an independent statutory body, established under the Army Pensions Act 1927 and consisting of a chairman and two ordinary members. The Secretary to the Board is provided from the staff of my Department.
In compliance with Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005, the Department of Defence has undertaken, where practicable, to promote and support the employment of people with disabilities. The Department continues to operate in a non-discriminatory environment in accordance with the Equality Acts and aims to ensure that the principles of employment equality are implemented in recruitment, promotion, training and work experience.
Recruitment, which for civil servants of my Department is undertaken by the Public Appointments Service, is open to all applicants and reasonable accommodation is afforded to those employees with a declared disability.
The Deputy will be aware that under the provisions of Section 46(3) of the Disability Act, Part 5, ‘Public Service Employment’ does not apply to members of the Defence Forces, the Garda Síochána or Prison Officers. This reflects the provisions of the section 37(5) of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015, which provide that matters relating to discrimination on the basis of age or disability do not apply to employment in the Defence Forces given the unique requirements for employment in the Defence Forces.
