By Siobhán Barron

For over 35 years it has been Government policy that at least 3% of those employed in the public service should be people with disabilities. The Disability Act 2005 put this employment target on a statutory basis.

The 3% target is a positive action measure to ensure that people with disabilities can get jobs, or stay in their jobs, in the public sector. This is against a backdrop where, even during the economic boom, people with disabilities were twice as likely to be out of work as the general population.

Under the Disability Act public sector bodies are legally obliged to

• promote and support the employment of people with disabilities
• employ 3% of staff with disabilities, unless there are good reasons why not

The National Disability Authority has the role to report every year on how the public sector is doing on this front. In its latest report (for 2011) issued at the end of last year, it reported that for the first time ever this 3% target had been achieved.

This marks an important milestone. This achievement is all the more welcome against the backdrop of a public service which is downsizing and where most public bodies face an embargo on recruitment.

The total number of staff working in the public service has been decreasing since 2007 with a fall of more than 33,000 since its peak. However, there has been an increase in the reported number of people with disabilities working in the public service from 5,879 in 2007 to 6,171 in 2011. The 2011 figure represented a reported increase of 423 employees with disabilities as compared with 2010.

How has the 3% target been achieved?

This is the culmination of efforts by the public service to recruit, support and retain staff with disabilities. The Disability Liaison Officers (in the civil service), Access Officers and Equality Officers play an important role in supporting staff with disabilities, and ensuring they are accommodated to do their jobs. 

There may belittle that can be achieved, in most public sector organisations, to provide new openings for people with disabilities until the situation changes and the embargo is lifted; but other options can and are being tried, like work placements, including the Willing Able and Mentoring scheme run for graduates with disabilities by AHEAD.

Supporting staff who acquire a disability to stay in work, and creating a disability-friendly working environment are very important, particularly during the embargo when other options are limited. These actions create benefits for staff and customers of public bodies, as they deal with an increasingly diverse and ageing population.

Siobhán Barron is Director of the National Disability Authority

Click here to view or download the full Report