Ms Jeanne McDonagh:

It is about laying out one's stall. When someone applies to a company, I would presume he or she does some sort of due diligence as to what sort of environment it is and what sort of company it is. Is it welcoming? Is it a good employer? Does it have a reasonable accommodation passport? What sort of job spec is there? The job spec is the very first thing someone sees. Does it have a reasonable accommodation? Is there a contact number, name, email or phone number that someone can ring to talk about disclosing? Disclosure is very personal to the person. I have no qualms about talking about it, but that is me and I am different. I have a big mouth, but other people find it very personal and very intrusive and do not want to disclose it because they think it will work against them. That first point of contact with the company is vital and something we really preach to all our companies. If employers are not setting out their stall and talking about all the things they do, and then doing it well and properly, to best practice, they are sending out a very bad message to people applying to them - and they have friends and families. They are going to talk. They are going to say, "I applied to X and you will not believe what happened to me." It is, therefore, reputational as well.

In addition, if they are doing that from the get-go and if they have the ethos that they want to be inclusive and want to help people from marginalised backgrounds, be it people with disabilities, migrants, the Traveller community, the Roma community, whatever it may be, they have to be upfront and say it, but they also have to live the ethos. It is not just a tick-box exercise; it really has to permeate the whole organisation and be imbued. It is an element of corporate social justice and it is what companies should be doing, and without even thinking about it. It should not be a nice to have; it is a must have. That comes across to anyone applying for work and going through a company's processes: what accommodations are put in place and what help is given to make it an equitable process. Again, I am not saying that a company should hire someone just because they have a disability. They should be hired because, given equability, they can do the job as well as anyone else. That is the basis on which the company should hire. I think anyone would want that. They do not want to be put in a job where they are moved to the backroom or put in a corner and told to do one thing because it is believed that is all they are able to do. They want to be in a job in which their skills are valued and best use is made of them because then they thrive and progress and so on.

Sorry, that was a very long answer to-----