The State’s equality infrastructure, the Equality Authority, the Equality Tribunal and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, jointly launched a series of initiatives today to mark the 10th anniversary of the introduction of new Irish equality legislation in employment and goods and services in Dublin Castle.
Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness, Chairperson of the Law Reform Commission, and a former Chair of the Employment Equality Agency, opened the event, which marked the 10th anniversary of the introduction of new employment equality legislation (18th October 1999) with the launch of a new CD-ROM of equality caselaw and legal reviews by the Equality Tribunal.
Melanie Pine, Director of the Equality Tribunal said: ‘The Equality Tribunal today is publishing a CD-ROM of all its Decisions, and it’s Legal Reviews, since its establishment a decade ago. The Tribunal has dealt with claims from more than 22,000 people from 1999 to 2009. Tribunal Decisions cover all aspects of discrimination in relation to both employment and equal status (goods and services). The Legal Reviews give an overview of the legal issues arising in the cases and emphasise the points of principle decided. Together they will form a vital information resource for anyone interested in learning both what is and what is not discrimination. As such the CD-ROM, which is fully searchable, will be useful for individuals, interested organisations and the actual parties to cases before the Tribunal’.
Niall McCutcheon, Principal Officer in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law reform said that ‘Equality is a fundamental right, a common value of the Irish Government and the EU member states, and a necessary condition for the achievement of the EU objectives of equal treatment, growth, employment and social cohesion for its citizens. It has also played a vital role in redress by turning equality into a reality for people who experience discrimination. Since it was established 10 years ago the Tribunal has dealt with claims from over 23,000 people covering all aspects of daily life’.
Renee Dempsey, CEO of the Equality Authority welcomed the State partnership in ‘marking a decade of progress for Irish society in its promotion and defence of rights under the equality legislation. During this decade, the Equality Authority dealt with over 100,000 enquiries from the public, created partnership public awareness campaigns on issues such as ageism, integrated workplaces, reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities, homophobic bullying in schools and the promotion of equal opportunity. Our extensive research programme across the nine grounds, coupled with important initiatives in the private, public, community and voluntary sectors has made a real difference in resourcing and bringing people towards equality compliance and in accessing the many social and economic benefits that result from best practice. The Equality Authority acts a Prosecutor in strategically important cases. Our legal casework has resulted in many significant settlements and awards by the Equality Tribunal and in the main courts service providing remedy and redress to victims of discrimination since 1999’.
The State equality partners announced a series of initiatives to mark the 10th anniversary year (October 2009 to October 2010). The Employment Equality Act (1998) was implemented on October 18th 1999 and the Equal Status Act (2000) was first implemented on October 25th 2000. The State partners in launching the Equality Tribunal’s CD -ROM also announced the commissioning of a study of the legal outcomes and their impact and application over the decade and a major two day international conference on our leading equality legislation to be held in Dublin in October 2010. ‘This programme will not only chart and analyse our progress as a society over the first decade but will yield important data, debate and indicators for more progress in the next decade’, stated the equality partners.
Ms Ruth Deasy from the Irish EU Commission office announced the winner of the European Commission’s “For Diversity Against Discrimination” information campaign. The equality partners congratulated the winner. ‘We are pleased to facilitate the presentation of this important media award. We commend this Commission initiative in making awards in every member State and holding a European wide competition. Journalists have a vital role to play in raising equality awareness. The more debate, coverage and cases heard through the media, the more citizens, employers, and service providers or community representatives will become accurately informed and aware about their rights and options for vindicating those rights which are protected by the Irish legislation’ they concluded.
ENDS