The Labour Party is to make a second attempt to push equality legislation through the Oireachtas, 18 months after the Supreme Court quashed its Bill on constitutional grounds. A new equal status Bill, designed to outlaw discrimination and inequality in a wide range of areas, was presented yesterday in Dublin by the Labour spokeswoman on equality and law reform, Ms Jan O'Sullivan.
The measures are virtually the same as those contained in the legislation which fell in June 1997 when the Supreme Court ruled that two sections of the Bill introduced by the then minister for equality and law reform, Mr Mervyn Taylor, were unconstitutional. The Bill had been referred to the Supreme Court by the then president, Mrs Robinson, after being passed in both houses of the Oireachtas in April 1997.
The new Bill has, according to Ms O'Sullivan, been "significantly amended" to eliminate the unconstitutional elements contained in the 1997 Bill. The Government should now either produce its own equality legislation, as promised, or "preferably" adopt the Bill produced by Labour, she said.
If enacted, the Equal Status Bill 1999 would prohibit discrimination on grounds of gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Travelling community. It would also deal with inequality in education, property, land, accommodation, partnerships and clubs.
Claims of discrimination would be dealt with by a director of equality investigations.
For people with disabilities, difficulties in securing wheelchair-accessible transport would also be tackled. The measures would enable the Minister to insist on the provision of accessible taxis for those with disability problems.
"Racism in Ireland is fast becoming a problem. This Bill would play a significant role in addressing racism. For instance, if a person was refused access to a pub or restaurant on racial grounds and where there was no other justification for their refusal, they would have recourse to action under this Bill," Ms O'Sullivan said.
Accusing the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, of "neglecting his responsibilities in the area of equality", Ms O'Sullivan claimed that since the merger of the Department of Equality and Law Reform with Justice, the level of attention given to equality issues had been "nothing short of abysmal".
Only three pieces of legislation concerning equality had been passed - the Employment Equality Act, which had yet to be enforced, the Parental Leave Act and the legislation to establish the National Disability Authority, she added.