From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
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The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Mr. Roderic O’Gorman, T.D., has launched a consultation seeking the public’s views on a review of the Equality Acts (Equal Status Acts 2000-2018 and the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015). The consultation opened on 06 July 2021, and submissions can be submitted until 08 December 2021.
The public consultation process provides a valuable opportunity for stakeholders and interested persons, who may have a special understanding or expertise, to contribute to the review of the Equality Acts.
Read the Press Release here.
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is conducting a review of the Equality Acts (Equal Status Acts 2000-2018 and the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015).
The Programme for Government commitments on the introduction of a socio-economic ground for discrimination and the amendment of the gender ground will be considered as part of the review.
The review will examine the functioning of the Acts and their effectiveness in combatting discrimination and promoting equality. It will also include a review of current definitions, including in relation to disability.
In addition, the review will examine the use of non-disclosure agreements by employers in cases of sexual harassment and discrimination, in line with the issues raised in the Employment Equality (Amendment) (Non-Disclosure Agreement) Bill 2021 Private Member’s Bill.
The review will examine the operation of the Acts from the perspective of the person taking a claim under its redress mechanisms. It will examine the degree to which those experiencing discrimination are aware of the legislation and whether there are practical or other obstacles which preclude or deter them from taking an action.
The review also provides an opportunity to review other issues arising, including whether or not further additional equality grounds should be added, whether existing exemptions should be removed or modified and whether or not the existing legislation adequately addresses issues of intersectionality.
The Government will draw on the findings of this consultation both to inform the areas of consideration in the legislation as part of the review and to inform recommendations arising from the review. The recommendations arising from the review may take the form of recommendations for legislative changes, recommendations for policy development or recommendations for changes to the practical operation of the redress mechanisms.
A list of significant legislation to this review is below:
Please note, this list is for information and should not be considered exhaustive.
Detailed written submissions from interested parties are invited and can be returned to equalitypolicy@equality.gov.ie
1) The functioning of the Acts and their effectiveness in combatting discrimination and promoting equality;
2) The degree to which those experiencing discrimination are aware of the legislation and whether there are obstacles which deter them from taking an action;
3) The scope of the current definitions of the nine equality grounds. This will include consideration of the gender ground, the disability ground and whether new grounds should be added, such as the ground of socio-economic discrimination;
4) Whether the legislation adequately addresses intersectionality or the intersection of discrimination across a number of grounds;
5) Whether existing exemptions in the legislation should be modified or removed;
6) Any other issues arising from the legislation.
The closing date for receipt of submissions is 08 December 2021 at 5pm.
Please note that submissions received will not be responded to.
All submissions submitted to the Department are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and are also subject to Data Protection legislation.