Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 June 2021
277. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the way in which her Department and agencies under her remit are working towards enabling access to employment for persons from minority and or disadvantaged communities, including, but not limited to, persons with disabilities, persons from ethnic minorities, Travellers, Mincéirí; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32748/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn the context of meeting its obligations, under Section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, to have regard in performing its functions of the need to eliminate discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and treatment for staff, my Department is working towards increasing access to employment in the Department for persons from minority and or disadvantaged communities on a number of fronts.
As a civil service employer, my Department operates an equal opportunities employment policy. Recruitment of the vast majority of staff in my Department is via the Public Appointments Service (PAS). My Department is supportive of current PAS recruitment initiatives that seek to appoint persons from diverse backgrounds to posts in the civil service.
I am informed that, in particular, my Department has a strong record of employing persons with disabilities. My Department conducted a staff census for 2020 to assist monitoring of the number of employees with disabilities, as required under the Disability Act 2005. Almost 10% of staff in my Department self-identified in this census as having a disability as defined by the Act. Separately, my Department is currently accommodating a trainee from the Oireachtas Work Learning Programme (OWL) for persons with intellectual disabilities. It is also in the process of recruiting up to four graduates with disabilities from the Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) work placement programme which aims to promote access to the labour market for graduates with disabilities and build the capacity of employers to integrate disability into the mainstream workplace.
I am also informed that, while my Department does not currently monitor staff numbers by other minority status, it is progressing an action plan developed under its Diversity and Inclusion Policy that includes a number of measures intended to foster an inclusive work culture that will support diversity in workforce makeup. Amongst these measures is the roll out of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training to staff, and the completion of a staff EDI attitudes survey. All staff also have access to my Department's well-being programme, to the civil service employee assistance service, and to the Department's Disability Liaison Officer: All of these services are designed to assist with integration and inclusivity.
With regard to the Agencies under my Department’s remit, this is an operational matter for the respective Agencies. In that context, I will forward your question to the relevant Agencies and bodies, under the aegis of my Department, and request them to respond directly to you on the matter. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
