Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 April 2023
285. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the breakdown of local authorities with an access officer in place as per the Disability Act 2005; the date they were appointed; their contact details; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18847/23]
View answerUnder section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible. My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of overall local government sector employment levels. To this end, my Department gathers aggregate quarterly data on staff numbers in each local authority on a whole time equivalent basis. However, granular data, in terms of staff allocated to specific work areas within local authorities is not collected and consequently is not available in my Department.
Under Section 26(2) of the Disability Act 2005 each public body is required to have at least one officer authorised to act in the capacity of an access officer. That officer is responsible, where appropriate, for providing or arranging for and co-ordinating assistance and guidance to persons with disabilities in accessing the services provided by that body.
Further information regarding access officers would be available from each local authority.
