The number of disabled people given government jobs over the past three years already equals those for the previous seven years combined, official employment figures show.
An Education Ministry breakdown of disability employment shows that 215 people found public sector jobs between 2013 and 2015, the same number employed by the State between 2006 and 2012.
Government sources involved in the disability employment sector said the figure was expected to increase further in the coming months as part of an effort to reach its self-imposed employment quota of 820 people with disabilities in full-time employment.
“There have been more jobs identified and areas within which a variety of disabled people can be employed on a full-time and part-time basis with the public sector and we are working to see these positions filled,” the sources said.
Last week, this newspaper reported that the number of disabled people employed in the private sector had more than tripled by the end of last year when compared to 2014. The increase had followed a government warning to enforce penalties against businesses refusing to recruit disabled people.
There have been more jobs identified and areas within which a variety of disabled people can be employed on a full-time and part-time basis with the public sector
About 350 disabled people found jobs last year compared with 100 in 2014 and just 50 in 2010.
According to the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act, workers with a disability should constitute two per cent of the workforce of a company engaging 20 or more staff members.
Those who do not abide by the legal quota must contribute between €1,600 and €10,000 annually, which goes towards training and creating job opportunities for disabled people.
The sources said official letters had been sent to dozens of businesses last year informing them that the law would be enforced if efforts were not made to employ the minimum number of disabled workers in 2015.
“Employment has been a major obstacle in this sector for several years. Companies were not cooperating so we had to take action. We have seen a significant turnaround and this is arguably the best thing to happen in this field for several years,” the sources said.
According to the ministry figures, the number of compliant firms had risen from 96, or 10 per cent of the total, in 2014, to 342, or 40 per cent, by the end of last year.
The figures also confirmed a long-held belief that the number of disabled people looking for work is actually much larger than the official unemployment register suggests.
The sources said the ministry had contacted all those employed last year and found that just one out of every four disabled workers had been registering as unemployed with the State employment agency.