FLAC highlights ‘gaps’ in draft equality bill
The chief executive of FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) has described a draft bill on equality as the most significant reform of the legislation in the last two decades.
While welcoming the legislation in an appearance before the Joint Oireachtas Equality Committee yesterday (17 July), the organisation also called for improvements.
It said that the should ban discrimination on the grounds of socio-economic status and gender identity, while it should also bring State bodies like the gardaí and the Irish Prison Service “clearly within the prohibition of discrimination”.
Compensation levels
welcomed, however, the fact that the legislation, if passed, would:
- Increase the levels of compensation available to victims of discrimination – from €15,000 to €75,000 in cases concerning access to goods services, accommodation, and education heard by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC),
- Allow the WRC to hear discrimination complaints against licensed premises such as pubs and hotels,
- Improve reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities, and
- Extend what FLAC described as the “very restrictive” time limits for making a discrimination complaint from six months to one year.
FLAC chief executive Eilis Barry told the committee that the significance of the General Scheme of the bill could not be overstated.
“While it requires improvement and expansion, it will be the most significant reform of the legislation in the last two decades,” she stated.
‘Huge demand’
“FLAC is acutely aware of the limitations in the equality legislation – including gaps in its scope and grounds, procedural issues that make it difficult to make a claim, and the ineffective remedies especially in goods and services cases,” Barry said.
“We are also aware of the huge demand for information, advice, and legal representation in relation to this complex, convoluted, and completely inaccessible legislation,” she added.
Barry concluded, however, that some of the measures outlined in the bill had the potential to “breathe fresh life” into the prohibition of discrimination and to encourage the development of a culture of compliance with equality law.
“If enacted as it is currently drafted, the bill will have a very positive impact, especially for Travellers and people with disabilities,” she stated.