New ageism laws will be introduced from 1 October. In the 4 October issue of Recruiter, employment relations minister Jim Fitzpatrick will set out his perspective on how this will affect recruiters.

Paul Cushing, managing director of market research specialist RPCushing Recruitment, said: "Most people working in HR and recruitment welcome the new laws as a positive step that will lead to greater diversity in the workforce. By changing the mindsets of recruiters and adopting a competency-based approach, firms will not exclude any potential candidates and will have a greater resource pool to recruit from.