From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
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The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman, T.D., has today extended the period of the public consultation process as part of a review of the Equality Acts (Equal Status Acts 2000-2018 and the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015). The decision to extend the consultation period is in response to requests from stakeholders. The new deadline for submissions is 5pm on 29 November 2021.
The Minister has invited submissions on a range of issues including: the functioning of the Acts and their effectiveness in combatting discrimination and promoting equality; awareness of the legislation; and whether there are obstacles to taking an action under the Acts. Submissions are also invited on the scope of the current definitions of the nine equality grounds. This will include consideration of the disability ground and whether new grounds should be added, such as the grounds of socio-economic discrimination and gender identity.
Minister O’Gorman said today:
“The scope of the review is extremely broad and I recognise that many stakeholders will wish to make detailed submissions and I want to facilitate them as much as possible. As I said at the launch of the consultation, the views of those who have experienced discrimination and have experienced the operation of the Acts will play a key role in informing the review process and I would encourage submissions.”