2754. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of persons with a disability that are in employment in the public sector; the number in employment with mobility issues, brain injury, Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, hearing impairment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55046/26]

Government remains committed to increasing the rate of employment of disabled people across the Public Sector.

Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 sets out obligations on public bodies to promote and support the employment of people with disabilities. These obligations previously set a minimum target that 3% of those employed at a given public sector organisation should be disabled people. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022, commenced in April of 2023, committed to the doubling of that statutory target on a phased basis - going from 3% to 4.5% in 2024 and to 6% from January 2025 onwards. Part 5 of the Disability Act provides for individual Ministerial accountability for public bodies under their aegis regarding compliance with disability employment targets.

The National Disability Authority (NDA) has the statutory responsibility for monitoring compliance with Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005, which covers the employment of disabled people in the public sector. The most recent report available shows that in 2024, 15,403 people with disabilities were employed across the public sector, which represents 5.4% of the public sector workforce. The minimum target for 2024 was that 4.5% of the workforce would be people with disabilities, and so this target was exceeded. The figures show that an additional 4,149 disabled persons were employed in the public sector from the 2023 figures. The data collected is not disaggregated by disability type in order to ensure the anonymity of respondents and therefore maximise response rates.

The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, launched and published in September 2025, includes a range of actions under Commitment 4 which will support with improving employment opportunities for disabled people in the Public Sector. These actions which are being progressed by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, focus on ways in which we can maximise opportunities and access for disabled people to get meaningful work in the civil and public sector.

I am confident that the ongoing work across Government will continue to support employment opportunities for disabled people across both the public and private sectors.