Employers must open their minds and show leadership by actively recruiting people with disabilities, the Tánaiste has said.
Ms Harney told a conference in Dublin yesterday that too often, the issue of disabled people in the workplace was shrouded in prejudice and myth.
"I want to encourage employers both in the private sector and the government to open up their minds, to look at the possibilities and the opportunity and capabilities of people with a disability," she said. "Too often the whole area is shrouded in prejudice. There are so many myths we need to dismiss."
The first was that people with a disability had poor health, which was generally not the case, nor did they cost more to insure.
Ms Harney said where there were extra costs to adapt a workplace, there was a range of support measures to assist employers, including grants.
A recent household survey showed that among the working- age population, aged between 15 and 65, 10 per cent suffered from a disability. Only 40 per cent of these people participated in work as opposed to 65 per cent of the rest of the population.
"In the workplace, people that suffer from a particular disability are under-represented. That means they don't get the opportunity to participate in the economic and social development of their own country, whether working for a private organisation or working for the State," she added.
"Quota systems have been introduced. They have a role to play, but in my view changing attitudes, broadening our horizons, will make the most significant impact."
The Tánaiste's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is responsible for work-related training of people with disabilities. Ms Harney made her comments at a conference held to highlight the capability of people with a disability in the workforce and the achievements of organisations which hire people with a disability.
A new organisation, Access Ability, aimed at creating at least 300 jobs for people with disabilities over the next four years, was also announced at the event.
Ms Caroline Casey, founder of the Aisling Foundation which organised the conference, urged the Government to "move beyond rhetoric and act in a co- ordinated way".