The private and public sectors had created over 21,000 jobs for people with disabilities or other problems finding work between January 2013 and December 2015, junior social affairs minister Jetta Klijnsma said in a briefing to parliament on Thursday.

This is higher than the 19,000 target and means there is no need to bring in a compulsory quota, Klijnsma said.

As part of the social agreement thrashed out by the coalition and three ‘friendly’ opposition parties, government, employers and unions agreed to create 100,000 jobs by 2026 for people with workforce disadvantages.

However, the total includes people who were already in work and have increased their hours and the minister does not know how many people have actually been helped to a new job, news agency ANP said.

In addition, some of the jobs have been taken by people who were previously employed in sheltered work schemes, which are currently being closed down.

Last month, the government’s most senior advisory body said efforts to integrate people from sheltered work schemes into the regular workforce are proceeding so slowly there should be a rethink.