The Government should underwrite the costs involved in providing "reasonable accommodation" for people with disabilities in the workplace, according to the National Economic and Social Forum.
The forum said the scheme could be funded from the 1 per cent employment levy which PAYE workers already contribute to the Exchequer.
This is one of the main recommendations of the NESF's latest report, which looks at the equality provisions of Partnership 2000 and how far the Government's legislative programme goes towards meeting them.
It has given a general welcome to the provisions of the new Employment Equality Bill and the Government's commitment to enact it - along with the Equal Status Bill - before the end of next year.
The Supreme Court found the last government's Employment Equality Bill to be unconstitutional. The court said it imposed an unfair obligation on employers to provide suitable working accommodation for disabled people.
The forum chairwoman, Ms Maureen Gaffney, said a balance has to be achieved between the constitutional rights of property and social justice. The new Bill says employers must meet the cost of employing a suitable person with disabilities, provided the costs are "nominal", but it does not define nominal.
The Bill needed to define nominal costs, Ms Gaffney said. "The Supreme Court has clearly indicated that the State should bear costs above this level." She estimated that there were "at most" 150,000 people with disabilities in the State.
Based on the US experience of accommodating people with disabilities in the workplace, she said 19 per cent could be accommodated at little or no cost to the employer. Another 50 per cent could be accommodated at a cost ranging from a few pounds to a maximum of £350.
In about three per cent of cases the cost would be over £3,000. These would be the most disabled potential employees. The remaining people with disabilities were unlikely to be able to work. While the costs are significant, Ms Gaffney said they were not insuperable. She said it could be shown that they could be offset by savings to the Exchequer in social welfare. At present 70 per cent of people with disabilities are long-term unemployed.
The NESF is also calling for a series of task forces to be set up to monitor progress in combating inequalities and identifying potential problems. Ms Gaffney said the National Anti-Poverty Strategy and the Strategic Management Initiative programmes should be used to "equality proof" all Government legislation and policies.
Several of the recommendations made in a forum report on the first Employment Equality Bill have been included in the new Bill. These include provisions to outlaw discrimination against the recruitment or promotion of older workers and greater protection for travellers. The NESF's new report has been welcomed by the Irish Traveller Movement, the Disability Federation of Ireland and other voluntary groups.