Hiring people with disabilities is not charity, it is good for business, delegates at the Ability conference in Dublin Castle were told yesterday.
"People with a disability are more willing to go the extra mile and have been proven more loyal, displaying increased productivity and accumulated skill-sets," said Ms Caroline Casey, founder of the Aisling Project, which was set up to demonstrate that people with alternative ability have a significant role to play in society and in the workforce.
"Combined with enhanced staff morale and increased customer loyalty, these are very strong profit-driven reasons for taking a fresh look."
Prominent disability campaigner Ms Heather Mills said businesses should look at people's capabilities, rather than focusing on their disabilities. "Employers in Ireland and beyond need to see the value of hiring very able people, no matter whether the label says fully-able or disability," she said.
"It's not a matter of being charitable. They will benefit you and people with disabilities can be very inspiring to other people around the office. They're more committed because it is much harder for them to get the job in the first place."
People with disabilities tend to have a lower rate of employee turnover, while employing people with disabilities can help foster team work, said Ms Deborah Dagit, executive director, work environment and diversity at Merck Pharmaceuticals in the United States.
"It fosters a good feeling among employees when they can say they work for an employer that hires people with disabilities, that they are being associated with a progressive employer. For younger people entering the workforce, it's a sign of a 21st century company that has diversity and is inclusive," said Ms Dagit.
Mr Denis O'Brien, chief executive of Communicorp, said the onus was on chief executives to be the "catalysts and champions" in breaking down barriers to hiring people with disabilities.
Mr O'Brien, the founder of Esat Telecom, said: "As leaders in Irish business, we have a responsibility to rise to this challenge of encouraging our senior managers and human resources managers to seek out more alternative abilities. Time and again, the benefits outweigh any obstacles we can invariably overcome," he said.
According to Mr Brian Crowley MEP, employers have a responsibility to show people with a disability that they are welcome in the workforce. "What inhibits employers is the pre-conceived idea that people with a disability can't do a job and that's incorrect. Employers should be excited about unleashing such potential."
