916. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to report on progress to meet his commitments under the National Human Rights Strategy for disabled people; the measures taken since the strategy was introduced; the key metrics identified to measure progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter [60749/26]

Since the publication of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, my department has been progressing actions under Pillar II (Employment) while supporting the Civil Service to lead by example in advancing disability inclusion in the workplace. Key actions include:

• Development of a new Civil Service Reasonable Accommodation Policy, passport and toolkit designed in partnership with employees and stakeholders across government.

• Expansion of inclusive employment pathways through programmes such as WAM and OWL.

• Enhanced recruitment supports for disabled and neurodiverse candidates through Publicjobs, including its dedicated Reasonable Accommodation Team.

• Increased focus on workplace inclusion, capability-building, and culture change, with a significant uptake of Equality and Human Rights, Neurodiversity at Work and Inclusive Leadership training through OneLearning and the IPA.

• A major reform of the Disability Liaison Officer (DLO) function is also underway. Through a co-design process involving key stakeholders and disabled and neurodiverse employees, the reform is focused on strengthening the role through greater clarity, capability and resourcing, ensuring staff can access more effective and holistic workplace support.

DPER chairs the Part 5 (Disability Census) Monitoring Committees for more than 60 organisations staffed by civil servants and, through this role, monitors disability employment rates across those organisations against the statutory disability employment targets.

In 2024, all 19 Government Departments exceeded the statutory disability employment target of 4.5%, with the proportion of disabled civil servants increasing from 6.8% in 2023 to 9.8% in 2024. In 2024, 85% of public bodies staffed by civil servants met the 4.5% target, with increasing numbers on track to meet the enhanced 6% target for 2025.

Additional metrics used to track progress include:

• Participation and conversion rates for the Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) and Oireachtas Work Learning (OWL) placement programmes.

• Development of an Equality Monitoring Dashboard in Publicjobs to improve the tracking of applications, recruitment outcomes and assignments.

• Uptake of disability inclusion-focused learning and development opportunities through OneLearning, including Equality and Human Rights, Neurodiversity at Work and Inclusive Leadership programmes.

• Ongoing monitoring of workplace supports and disability inclusion initiatives across the Civil Service.

Collectively, these measures support the Government's commitment to increasing employment opportunities for disabled people and fostering more inclusive workplaces for disabled and neurodiverse employees across the civil service.