The employers' body, IBEC, and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) have started an initiative to get people with disabilities working in the private sector.
The "Workway Project" was unveiled yesterday by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.
Supported by the Department of Enterprise and Employment, it aims to remove the barriers which prevent disabled people from getting private-sector jobs.
Five networks in Cork, Galway, Kerry, Donegal and the midlands will be set up to further the work of the project.
The aim of these networks will be to explore the skills of disabled people, identify barriers to them getting work and impart information to employers and service-providers about the services disabled people need.
The general secretary of ICTU, Mr David Begg, said key private-sector unions would support the project. He said supporting people with disabilities was a long-standing commitment of several national programmes.
The director-general of IBEC, Mr Turlough O'Sullivan, commented: "Creating an environment that provides equality of opportunity for full economic and social participation is an essential building block of a modern, progressive and equitable society."
Over the next two years the co-ordinators of the "Workway Project" will hold consultation workshops and then set up the networks.