There are two distinct pieces of legislation in place in Ireland which set out important rights for people and specifically outlaw discrimination when it occurs. The
Employment Equality Acts 1998-2008 and the
Equal Status Acts 2000-2008 outlaw discrimination in employment, vocational training, advertising, collective agreements, the provision of goods and services. Specifically, goods and services include professional or trade services; health services; access to accommodation and education; facilities for banking, transport and cultural activities.
Under the equality legislation discrimination based on any one of 9 distinct grounds is unlawful. These grounds are:
- Gender
- Marital status
- Family status
- Sexual orientation
- Religion
- Age (does not apply to a person under 16)
- Disability
- Race
- Membership of the Traveller community.
What is discrimination?
Discrimination is defined as less favourable treatment. A person is said to be discriminated against if he/she is treated less favourably than another is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation on any of the 9 grounds. To establish direct discrimination, a direct comparison must be made, for example, in the case of disability discrimination the comparison must be between a person who has a disability and another who has not, or between persons with different disabilities.