The information requested is as shown in the following table:
NICS staff NIO HCS staff Total 1997 435 n/a 435 1998 414 n/a 414 1999 911 n/a 911 2000 856 n/a 856 2001 1,245 n/a 1,246 2002 1,249 5 1,254 2003 1,247 6 1,253 2004 1,295 10 1,305 2005 1,363 9 1,372 2006 1,409 10 1,419 n/a = Not applicable Notes: 1. Table shows staff employed by NI Government Departments and departmental agencies and includes industrial staff, casual staff and Home Civil Service (HCS) staff employed in NIO. (Figures for NIO HCS staff prior to 2001 could not be made available within the timescale for this question. 2. Figures for 1997 and 1998 show those staff who were registered as disabled. Figures for 1999 to 2006 show those staff who declared a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. It is impossible to say with authority whether all staff with disabilities have declared it; anecdotal evidence is that an unknown number has not. 3. In August 2000, the Northern Ireland civil service conducted a survey of staff and encouraged those staff who had a disability to declare it at that time. Since then all new staff have been required to declare whether or not they have a disability.