AHEAD/TNS mrbi research on employing graduates with disabilities receives broad media coverage

Written by WAM

Irish Times 2nd July 2008

Only 25% of Firms take on Disabled Graduates

Just one-in-four businesses employ a graduate with a disability, a new survey has found. This is despite the number of third level students with a disability having tripled in the last 12 years, the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD) revealed yesterday.

Half of the 300 employers surveyed by TNS/MRBI had interviewed a candidate with a disability. However, almost three-quarters of employers believed a job candidate should tell an employer if they had a disability.

Three-quarters of employers had not had any disability training and 45% did not understand that reasonable accommodation can include the use of a sign language interpreter. “Employers fear some sort of reprisal if they ‘get it wrong’ when recruiting or employing graduates with disabilities,” said Ann Heelan, Executive Director of AHEAD. “They are worried about legislation, their own knowledge of disabilities and how to manage them, and productivity levels,” she added.

Irish Sun 2nd July 2008

Bosses ‘fear the disabled’

The number of disabled people going to college has doubled since 2001 – but bosses are increasingly afraid to hire them, new figures suggest.

A poll of 300 employers found 70 per cent had NO disabled graduates working for them. Ann Heelan, head of the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability, said bosses feared they’d “get it wrong”.

She added: “They are worried about legislation, productivity, asking inappropriate questions at the interview stage and health and safety obligations.”

Irish Daily Star 2nd July 2008

Bosses’ Fear on Disabilities

Many bosses are afraid to hire people with disabilities, according to a new survey.

The Association for Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) said bosses worried about legislation, productivity levels and health and safety.

Some 70 per cent of bosses surveyed employed no graduates with disabilities.

Irish Daily Mirror 2nd July 2008

Bosses’ disability jobs fear

Many employers are afraid to hire people with disabilities, it was claimed yesterday.

The Association for Higher Education Access and Disability said bosses are concerned about legislation and obligations.

Executive Director of AHEAD Ann Heelan said: “Employers fear some sort of reprisal if they ‘get it wrong’ when recruiting or employing a graduate with disabilities.

“They are worried about legislation, productivity, asking inappropriate questions at the interview stage and health and safety obligations.”

The research was revealed as employers and graduates gathered in Dublin Castle for a jobs fair.

Herald AM 2nd July 2008

Employers Afraid to Hire Disabled

Many employers are afraid to hire people with disabilities. Poor productivity, health and safety concerns, and red tape are all taken into account by bosses when they consider employing a disabled person, the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability said. The survey of 300 employers found that 70% of bosses had no disabled graduate employees.

Over the last two years the Willing, Able and Mentoring project has placed 47 graduates with disabilities in employment. Two-thirds of these are in the public sector with the remainder working in the private sector.

Offaly Independent 5th July 2008

Leinster employers need disability training.

Leinster employers need disability training it seems, after research revealed that that almost half of Leinster employers did not understand what is meant by the term “reasonable accommodation”.

The research, carried out by TNS MRBI, shows that Leinster lags behind the rest of the country, with only 34 percent of employers nationwide admitting to not knowing what the term meant.

The survey found that while the national average is 25 percent, only 23 percent of employers surveyed in Leinster had at least one graduate with a disability. Added to that, 79 percent of Leinster employers have not participated in disability / equality training, while the corresponding figure nationwide is 74 percent.

“Employers fear some sort of reprisal if they ‘get it wrong’ when recruiting or employing a graduate with disabilities”, Executive Director of the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD) said. “They worry about legislation, their own knowledge of disabilities, productivity levels, asking inappropriate questions during the interview stage and they are worried about their health and safety obligations.”

Speaking this week at the opening of the WAM (Willing Able Mentoring) programme by Laois/Offaly TD and Minister of State with responsibility for equality, disability issues and mental health John Moloney, AHEAD said the number of students in third level education has more than doubled in seven years and tripled in twelve years.

Businesses are now more likely than ever to encounter candidates with disabilities”, Deputy Moloney said, so they need to have proper recruitment processes in place”.

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Created on Thu Jul 03 12:09:39 -0400 2008
Last Edited on Thu Jul 03 12:09:39 -0400 2008