Disabilities were in the spotlight this year at conference, with a number of motions calling on Fórsa to campaign to make the public service as welcome a place as possible for people with disabilities. Grace Doyle and Brian Dooley were among members who spoke candidly about their own experiences. Both Grace and Brian were featured talking about their motions in the Irish Times.

A motion put forward by the Transport Executive Grades Branch noted that while government will be raising the employment target for people with disabilities from three to six percent, the actual percentage of people with disabilities in Ireland is 22%. The motion called for higher, more nationally representative targets to incentivise the provision of reasonable accommodations and decrease stigma. 

Grace Doyle, Meath health and local government branch, told conference of how human resources fought “tooth and nail” against providing some of the supports she needed to work.

Despite her line manager being supportive, Grace had great difficulty getting help with things like hearing aids which she needs to replace periodically due to the degenerative nature of her condition. Even smaller accommodations such as a quiet closing bin, which would not be picked up by hearing aids, proved difficult.

This inspired her motion calling for Fórsa to petition all public and civil service bodies to provide protected funding for the purchase of disability aids. 

“I’m good at my job and I just wanted to be able to keep doing it well,” Grace said. “But it took a long time to get the accommodations I needed. Initially, I just hit a brick wall."

Elsewhere a motion was put forward by Fórsa Youth member, Brian Dooley, who identifies as an Autistic ADHDer, calling on Fórsa to pursue the adoption of policies in the public sector that recognise the unique nature of communication-based disabilities and provide necessary accommodations.

Brian also experiences rejection sensitivity dysphoria, which is yet to be recognised as a condition on its own. It is a symptom of social difficulties experienced while growing up neurodivergent. These difficulties often include social alienation and exclusion due to the natural behaviours of neurodivergent people not being accepted by neurotypical peers. This can have the long-term effect of creating a sensitivity to rejection and a more general social anxiety. 

Due to the unique nature of his communication Brian has been allowed to not take phone calls from members of the public and focus exclusively on addressing public concerns through email.

He found in previous employments where his communication style was not accommodated, that it would be used to negatively evaluate his performance. 

With his motion, Brian wants to “establish fair standards with the aim of creating a more inclusive and better workplace for all."

He advocates for the introduction of a neuro-affirmative model in public sector workplaces, in hope of increasing recruitment and retention of people with disabilities.

Brian says: “In many cases neurodivergent employees have unique skills and perspectives that are underutilised and underappreciated in professional environments."

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