Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 April 2024
1137. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the EU legislation that unpins the change in gender protection (details supplied); and if it is this case that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is misleading people on the matter. [14650/24]
View answerIrish law prohibits discrimination on specific grounds under the Employment Equality Acts and the Equal Status Acts (the Equality Acts). These protected grounds are age, civil status, disability, family status, gender, membership of the Traveller Community, race, religious belief and sexual orientation. The Equal Status Act also protects against discrimination related to Housing Assistance Payments.
The Equality Acts give effect to EU legislation on equality and it has been established under EU law that a transgender person who experiences discrimination arising from their gender reassignment, or transition, is protected under the gender ground.
The Gender Recast Directive [DIRECTIVE 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast)] protects against discrimination arising from the gender reassignment of a person as outlined in Recital 3.
The European Courts of Justice, for example in P v S and Cornwall County Council (Case C-13/9), have approved the approach that the gender ground protects transgender persons from discrimination. In Ireland, this approach has been applied and the gender ground in our Equality legislation has therefore been interpreted to protect transgender people from discrimination; see the Workplace Relations Commission decision in Hannon v. First Direct Logistics Limited (Decision No. DEC-E2011-066).
The European Court of Human Rights has also affirmed that gender identity is within the scope of equality and non-discrimination protection under Article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
