New targets seek to double State employment of people with disabilities

A timetable to double the number of people with disabilities employed by large State agencies has been presented to the Government by the National Disability Authority.

Currently all large State agencies – such as the Environmental Protection Agency or Irish Water – are required to ensure that at least 3 per cent of their workforces are people with disabilities.

However, the Irish Wheelchair Association says more than two thirds of adults with a disability in Ireland are not currently in employment.

The Government has agreed to double the number of people with disabilities employed by State agencies by 2024. The authority wants this to happen sooner and has said 4 per cent of the public sector workforce should be people with disabilities by next year, rising to 5 per cent by 2021 and 6 per cent by 2023.

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Anita Matthews of the Irish Wheelchair Association welcomed the revised targets, saying the association had “a vision of an Ireland where people with disabilities enjoy equal rights, choices and opportunities in how they live their lives”.

“It will be essential that in order for the public sector to reach a target of 6 per cent, the Government will have to guarantee the recommendations outlined in the Make Work Pay document,” she said.

The recommendations, jointly published by the authority, include the retention of medical cards for workers with disabilities and the protection of secondary benefits once a person with a disability takes up employment.

The authority said it had provided guidance to a number of large public bodies last year on employing people with disabilities but it declined to name those that had not achieved compliance that year.

The authority said it held meetings with Enterprise Ireland, the National Treasury Management Association and Irish Water in 2017. All three State agencies told The Irish Times they were complaint with the employment targets for people with disabilities.