From Awareness to Action: Ireland's Roadmap to Closing the Disability Employment Gap, Final Report

Published: April 2026
Partner Organisation: EY

Developed by the Open Doors Initiative in partnership with EY through our Roundtable Series, this paper sets out a practical roadmap for creating more inclusive workplaces and transforming disability employment across Ireland.

Overview

This report explores why Ireland continues to have one of Europe's widest disability employment gaps and presents a clear, action-oriented framework for change. Moving beyond awareness, it provides practical recommendations for employers, policymakers and business leaders to redesign workplaces, remove systemic barriers and embed disability inclusion into everyday practice.

It draws on research, policy analysis and insights from business leaders, government, disability advocates and people with lived experience through the ODI Roundtable Series. You can read about our Roundtable Series here.

We were honoured to have diverse, informed and innovative individuals take part in our roundtables in 2026. Their insights and expertise informed the From Awareness to Action Roadmap. You can read about these insights in our Workshop Summary Report.

Key Highlights

• Co-created through a national roundtable series with business, government and disability stakeholders.
• Identifies the structural barriers driving Ireland's disability employment gap.
• Sets out five priority actions for employers and policymakers.
• Introduces a phased implementation roadmap for measurable change.
• Reframes disability inclusion as a business, economic and social imperative, rather than a social responsibility initiative.
• Provides practical metrics and accountability measures to track progress.

We also have a supporting research report that was developed as part of this work, you can access this here.