Ireland urgently needs to build a better world of work for persons with disability

Ireland should better engage with employers to increase hiring and keeping staff with disability while at the same time improve its passive disability benefit system. As we write in our report Disability, work and inclusion in Ireland: Engaging and supporting employers, the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath make action more important than ever. There is a large risk that the labour market situation for persons with disability will deteriorate further, as happened following the global financial crisis. In Ireland, only one out of three persons with disability has a job, one of the lowest shares in Europe and the OECD area. The report shows that engaging employers is critically important to build a better world of work for persons with disability. The report also highlights the importance of widely accessible and well-funded services by both public employment services and further education and training providers. Furthermore, employers can capitalise on new opportunities for persons with disability given the rise of teleworking and other assistive technologies.