THE AUSTRALIA-based Christian Brother who has just settled an age-restriction case with an Irish car-rental company is planning a return trip to Ireland next year and is pleased he will be able to hire a car when here.
“I’m glad because I’ll be 78,” Brother Anthony White said yesterday, speaking from his home in Brisbane.
In a landmark case, Brother White settled with Irish Car Rentals for age discrimination.
When he arranged to rent a car at Dublin airport in May 2006, he was told he would have to pay an “age surcharge” of €25 per day because he was over 70. He also learned he would not be able to rent a car at all once he was over 75.
Brother White has held a heavy-vehicle licence in Australia for 50 years and was driving between 40,000 and 50,000km per year.
The policies he challenged have been abolished by the company.
His father, from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, emigrated to Australia in 1926 and became a shopkeeper. Brother White visits Ireland as often as he can to see close family.
“They are in Blackrock, Cashel, Galway, so I needed a car. I made the arrangements before I left Australia so I did know I would have to pay the surcharge. I had never come across this anywhere else in the world but I understood it was pretty widespread in Ireland.”
He said he did raise it when collecting the car, but to no avail. “I felt it was an imposition that took no account of the individual capacity of a person. You can get 40-year-olds who can’t drive well and you can get others who are 80 and competent. It’s blatant discrimination. A blanket ban will always catch people who shouldn’t be involved.”
It was while in Ireland that he became aware of the Equality Authority, and he contacted them on his return to Brisbane.
“I wanted the whole policy looked at and the only way to do this was make a formal complaint. I was ambivalent about that because I had known about the policy before I left Australia, but it was the only way to proceed.”
He said there was a lot of correspondence between him and the authority, and that the authority was “very helpful”.
A date for a hearing before the Equality Tribunal was set but the company settled beforehand. It agreed to abolish the blanket ban on drivers over 75 and to remove the surcharge on drivers over 70.
A safety assessment form has been introduced, which takes account of individual drivers’ health, driving experience and existing motor insurance policy.
Irish Car Rentals said it is pleased with the outcome, and the new system is working well.
Brother White said the process caused him little worry and “was very worthwhile”.
Age Action Ireland welcomed the settlement, saying the case highlighted the “blatantly ageist policies adopted by some firms”.
Spokesman Eamon Timmins said “more people like Brother White” were needed to stand up and challenge such practices. He has done everyone a service.”
The Irish Senior Citizens Parliament also welcomed the outcome.
