Joint Committee on Children and Equality publishes Report on Pre-legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024

The Joint Committee on Children and Equality today published its Report on Pre-legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024, in which Members make 32 recommendations for inclusion in the legislation to come before the Dáil and Seanad.

The Bill proposes to strengthen equality protections and provides for the revision and updating of provisions of the Employment Equality Act 1998; Equal Status Act 2000; Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003; and Workplace Relations Act 2015.

The General Scheme was referred to the Joint Committee on 11 June by Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley TD, for pre-legislative scrutiny. The Committee engaged with 10 stakeholders at pre-legislative scrutiny meetings held in public session on 8 and 17 July and also received a number of written submissions from stakeholders.

Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Keira Keogh said: “These public hearings and written submissions assisted Members in their deliberations and analysis provided in this pre-legislative scrutiny report. The evidence to the Committee provided several observations on the General Scheme including grounds of discrimination, accessibility and inclusion matters, complaints and redress, and remaining key gaps in the legislation.”  

The PLS report contains 32 recommendations, including that:

• A ground of socio-economic status be included in the legislation;
• Consideration is given to expanding the scope of the Bill;
• A consistent, rights-based, inclusive and child-centred definition of disability be adopted that enshrines a rights-based approach;
• Consideration should be given to codifying the legislation to assist with its accessibility and public understanding;
• A decision be taken as a matter of urgency regarding the transposition of the Standards Directives and that the views expressed in evidence to the Committee are reviewed by the Department; and
• The Workplace Relations Commission receives appropriate resources to deal with the operational impact of the proposed amendments to ensure that all members of society facing discrimination and marginalisation can seek redress.

Deputy Keogh said: “The Committee welcomed the opportunity to conduct pre-legislative scrutiny on this important legislation and noted comments made during its engagements that Ireland has the opportunity to enact equality legislation to provide strong protections for those most vulnerable to discrimination and lesser treatment in our society, strengthen equality and remove outdated provisions.

“The Committee considered this Bill to be fundamentally important in terms of an opportunity for Ireland to progress its obligations under Articles 5, 27 and 28 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and ensure that the legislation provides robust, inclusive, and enforceable protections for all members of society facing discrimination and marginalisation.

“Members are hopeful that the Minister will give serious consideration to the implementation of the recommendations of the Committee, and we also look forward to working closely with the Minister to progress this very important piece of legislation through to enactment.

“On behalf of the Committee, I would like to thank all witnesses that appeared before the Committee and those who provided written submissions. Finally, I would like to extend my gratitude to all the Members of the Committee for their collaboration and contributions in the preparation of this PLS report.”

The Joint Committee on Children and Equality has 14 Members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad. The Committee’s Report on Pre-legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 is available on the Oireachtas website.