asked the Minister for Labour whether the quota of 3 per cent employment for the disabled in the public service has been reached and, if not, the progress which has been made towards that end.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Employment of Disabled.
16.
A quota of 3 per cent was decided by the Government in May 1977 as the target for the employment of disabled persons in the public sector.
Progress is being achieved through holding special recruitment competitions confined to disabled persons and by giving special consideration to suitable disabled people in the case of jobs not filled by competition.
To date, 300 disabled persons have been recruited to the Civil Service through special competitions. At the end of December 1984 the total number of disabled persons in the public service, including those who became disabled since recruitment, stood at 2,700 which was 1 per cent approximately of the workforce. In the Civil Service, disabled persons represent 1.4 per cent of the workforce.
While I am satisfied that significant progress was made initially, I am aware that the restrictions generally on recruitment to the public service have had serious repercussions for the quota. For my part, I will avail myself of every opportunity to encourage the public sector to increase their intake of disabled persons and I will keep the arrangement under constant review.
I am glad to say that provision has been made for 5 per cent of the 1,000 places being made available in the Civil Service for temporary clerical trainees to be reserved for disabled persons. A special competition is being held to fill these 50 places. This competition was advertised in October and the closing date for applications is 4 December 1985.
Have the Minister and the Government any date in mind on which they would hope to reach the target of 3 per cent?
No. We do not have a specific date in mind.
Does the Minister not feel that setting a target date would be an incentive to reaching the target?
A review each year or perhaps at six monthly intervals and measurement of what achievement has been made and the rate of progress would probably be more effective than setting an arbitrary target date and working towards it. There are a number of factors involved, but I would agree that a process of review aimed at reaching the target is desirable and that we should regard it as a matter of greater urgency than heretofore, under this administration and previous administrations.