Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 January 2023
510. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the legislative steps he has taken to protect interviewees from being discriminated against; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4705/23]
View answerDiscrimination on nine specified grounds, namely, gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, membership of the Traveller is prohibited by law in the field of employment under the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2021 and in the supply of and access to goods and services under the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2018. This includes the area of access to employment and recruitment.
Complaints regarding breaches of equality legislation may be pursued before the Workplace Relations Commission, which publishes statistics regularly on its decisions in regard to equality complaints disaggregated by discriminatory ground. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, which is independent in the exercise of its statutory functions, provides information on taking complaints under these acts and supports strategic litigation in this regard.
I am currently conducting a review of the Equality Acts to examine, among other issues, the functioning of the Acts and their effectiveness in combatting discrimination and promoting equality.
