Ireland is at near full employment—but beneath that headline success lies a stark contradiction. Around one in five people in Ireland lives with a disability, yet fewer than half of those of working age are in employment, creating one of the widest disability employment gaps in the European Union.

It’s a gap that isn’t about talent or ambition—but about how our systems, workplaces, and policies have been designed.

A new report from the Open Doors Initiative, From Awareness to Action, argues that closing this gap isn’t just a social issue—it’s an economic and leadership imperative. It calls for a shift away from traditional corporate social responsibility toward what it terms Corporate Social Justice: embedding inclusion into the very core of how organisations hire, manage, and lead.

And the prize is significant—not just for individuals facing an additional €8,000–€12,000 a year in the cost of disability—but for businesses too, with research showing more inclusive organisations are more productive and more profitable.

To unpack all of this, I’m joined today by Jeanne McDonagh, CEO of the Open Doors Initiative—an organisation working at the intersection of business, government and lived experience to build a more inclusive workforce.

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