NDA launches public sector eLearning tool

Life

Pictured: Anne-Marie Tierney Le-Roux, IDA Ireland; Colin Ryan, Qualcomm; Minister of Enterprise Tourism and Employment Peter Burke; Paul Kelleher and Jennifer Kenrick, QT Technologies; Michael Lohan, IDA Ireland; and Minister of State Jerry Buttimer

The National Disability Authority (NDA) has launched a new eLearning module to train public sector staff to provide quality public services to people with disabilities. The eLearning module is available free of charge to public bodies, and allows public bodies to train large numbers of staff without paying for trainers or training venues.

"Training of staff is going to be very important in our new public service, given the extra demands placed on public servants," said Robert Watt, secretary general, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. "We will be expecting more from public servants and we want to provide the necessary supports to ensure they can meet these extra demands. ELearning is an ideal model for training large numbers of staff, particularly where the staff are spread over a wide area."

Siobhan Barron, director, National Disability Authority, said: "People with disabilities are not a separate group. People with disabilities are customers of public service, family members, friends and work colleagues. About one in every six people in Ireland today has some form of disability that impacts their daily lives. This eLearning module will help public bodies to train large numbers of public sector staff so that people with disabilities will have the same access to public services as everyone else."

The eLearning module is available online at http://elearning.nda.ie.

TechCentral Reporters