Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 July 2022
210. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way that his Department and public bodies and agencies under his remit are implementing action 32 of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 (details supplied). [38742/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department and the bodies under its aegis work closely with a range of key stakeholders and organisations in the implementation of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021. As Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I have policy responsibility for recruitment to the civil service. As reflected in the Civil Service Renewal 2024 Strategy, the civil service is strong committed to equality of opportunity for all in terms of its recruitment and employment practices and building a more diverse and inclusive workforce that is reflective of the modern Ireland that it serves.
My Department also works closely with the National Disability Authority, as well as the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, and with the Department of Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth to further embed Equality Budgeting in the performance budgeting and policy making process to help ensure that resource allocation decisions are appropriately targeted. This is done through the work of the Equality Budgeting Expert Advisory Group and the Interdepartmental Group on Equality Budgeting established to further guide the ongoing rollout of Equality Budgeting.
DPER published the Public Service Performance Report in May 2022, which includes a section on Equality Budgeting. 26 metrics have been published and all the Departments reported on equality budgeting. Of these, four elaborated and provided data for disability metrics. An ongoing project with the OECD is developing a system for future tagging of equality budgeting to assist in further embedding the initiative and increasing coverage to support better policy outcomes.
In addition, my Department recently reported to the National Inclusion Strategy Stakeholder Group on the progress we made in these initiatives as part of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities.
OneLearning, the Civil Service Learning and Development Shared Service Centre based within my Department, provides staff with the opportunity to undertake a self-guided eLearning module developed by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) on Equality and Human Rights in the Public Service. This eLearning module has been developed to support and enable staff to understand and meet their obligations under the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty (Public Sector Duty) within public bodies and to support our goal to develop more diverse and inclusive workplaces.
PAS, which is a body under the aegis of my Department, is the primary recruiter for the civil service and other parts of the public service. PAS plays a central role in attracting a diverse range of talented people from all backgrounds to take up employment opportunities in the civil service. PAS launched its first Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2021-2023 following extensive and ongoing engagements with NGOs.
In partnership with AHEAD, the Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) Programme offers graduates with a disability a 6 month mentored paid work placement in either the private sector or Civil Service. My Department and PAS play a key role in driving the annual intakes of work placements across the Civil Service. To date, WAM has placed over 550 graduates, of which 44% (241) have been placements across 39 Departments / Offices. Over 80% of WAM graduates have subsequently secured longer-term employment upon completion of their WAM programme.
In terms of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within my own Department, the HR Unit developed a HR Strategy that has a focus on embracing and embedding a culture of diversity and inclusion across the Department through diversity initiatives and training. This has included the establishment of a vibrant cross-Divisional and cross-grade Diversity and Inclusion staff forum, the PERspectives Group. My Department has a Disability Liaison Officer (DLO) who supports 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.
