Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 5 Dec 1995

Vol. 459 No. 3

Written Answers. - Employment Target for People with Disabilities.

Albert Reynolds

Ceist:

62 Mr. Reynolds asked the Minister for Finance if the Government's employment targets for people with disability have been met by all Government Departments; and if he will give details of the performance of each Department. [18072/95]

Minister for Finance (Mr. Quinn)

The aim of the Government was to reach a quota of 3 per cent overall in the Civil Service. As of October 1994, the most recent date for which data is available, the percentage of people with disabilities employed in the Civil Service was 3 per cent. This figure relates to the Civil Service as a whole. However, at October 1994, 20 of the 29 Departments and Offices had a percentage of 3 per cent or higher of disabled people on their staff and a further three Departments had a percentage between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.

All Departments are required to play their full part in ensuring that this objective is met and maintained. Civil Service Departments with a low representation of staff with disabilities are being encouraged to increase that representation where feasible, taking into account their overall staffing needs.

I attach, for the Deputy's information, a list indicating the percentage of people with disabilities employed on 1 October 1994.

Percentage of staff in Departments with Disabilities at 1 October 1994

Department	Staff
	%
Agriculture, Food and Forestry	2
Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht	3
Defence	5
Education	3
Enterprise and Employment	5
Environment	3
Equality and Law Reform	8
Finance Group (i)	3
Foreign Affairs	3
Health	3
Justice	3
Marine	6
Office of Public Works (ii)	4
Office of the Tánaiste	0
Revenue Commissioners (ii)	2
Social Welfare	3
Taoiseach's Group (iii)	5
Tourism and Trade	4
Transport, Energy and Communications	4
Overall Total	3.0

(i) Includes the Civil Service Commission, the Offices of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Ombudsman, the President's Establishment, the State Laboratory and the Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey in addition to the Department of Finance.

(ii) Under the aegis of the Minister for Finance, but shown separately in view of the numbers of staff employed.

(iii) Includes the Offices of the Attorney General and Chief State Solicitor, the Central Statistics Office and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, in addition to the Department of the Taoiseach.