Joint Oireachtas (Parliamentary) Committee on European Affairs hearing on ERA (Equality Rights Alliance) complaint to European Commission on cutback to Equality Authority’s budget
The information contained on this page represents the situation as of 31 December 2009 and is a summary of the country report produced by the country expert from the network. The summary can be downloaded here as well.
The make up of Irish society is quite homogeneous. The latest official census in 2006 showed that 4,172,013 people were present in Ireland on census night; this reflects a population growth of 8.2% from 2002. 3,644,965 of those present on census night described themselves as Roman Catholic, which is about 87% of the population.
The Equality Acts prohibit discrimination across nine grounds, but govern different aspects of discrimination. The Employment Equality Act 1998-2007 prohibits discrimination in the sphere of employment; the Equal Status Act 1998-2004 prohibits discrimination in the provision of goods and services; the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 prohibits discrimination in the provision of occupational pensions.
The Employment Equality Act 1998-2007 introduced the enforcement mechanisms for the Equality Acts. The enforcement mechanisms apply equally to public and private employees with the exception of certain public sector employees. Complaints under either the Employment Equality Act 1998-2007 or the Equal Status Act 2000-2004 may be brought before the Equality Tribunal.
The Irish Constitution enshrines a guarantee of equality before the law. However, the history of the constitutional provision, Art 40.1, has not been a happy one, with inconsistent decisions and unclear reasoning being hallmarks of its interpretation by the courts. The Supreme Court retains a broad discretion in respect of justifying discrimination. Many early advances in equality law have tended to come through cases brought before the European Court of Human Rights, and more significantly through the impetus for change which came by virtue of Ireland’s membership of the European Union. There was a broad welcome for the range of equality laws which have been introduced over the last few decades in parliamentary debates and public reaction.
The Employment Equality Act 1998 – 2007 applies to the field of employment and vocational training; this does not distinguish between public and private sector employees. This relates to access to employment, conditions of employment, training or experience for or in relation to employment, promotion or re-grading or classification of posts. This Act also covers vocational training, employment advertisements and agencies and agency workers.
The Employment Equality Act 1998-2007 established two national institutions with enforcement functions under the Equality legislation. These bodies cover all nine of the protected grounds, and all the non-discrimination provisions of the Equality Acts. The first of these two bodies is the Equality Authority, an independent body.
This initiative is financed by the EC Programme Progress. But the views expressed in this website do not necessarily reflect the official views of the EU institutions.
