Two thirds of Irish people would complain if they were discriminated against in a restaurant or bank, according to a new survey.
The EU-wide research shows that only four in 10 Irish people said they knew their rights if they were discriminated against or harassed. However, this is slightly higher than the average among EU citizens.
The survey on attitudes to discrimination published yesterday shows that a fifth of Europeans had personally witnessed discrimination on ethnic grounds, ranging between 15 per cent in Ireland to 35 per cent in the Netherlands.
On average 14 per cent of all respondents said they witnessed others being discriminated against or harassed at work. This ranged from 28 per cent of respondents in Finland and 22 per cent in Sweden to 9 per cent in Ireland and Italy.
The research in 15 EU states was conducted earlier this year, with a sample of about 1,000 interviews per member-state.
Thirty-seven per cent of those surveyed believed that a person with minority religious or other beliefs, with the same skills or qualifications, would have less chance than everyone else of getting a job, training or promotion. Just over one in five Irish and Italians thought membership of a religious minority would reduce their chances of employment. Sixty-one per cent of Sweden and 52 per cent of Danes thought so. Five per cent of Greeks and 4 per cent of people surveyed in the UK thought a person with minority religious or other beliefs would have a better chance.
On average seven out of 10 Europeans said they would complain if they were discriminated against in restaurants, banks or in accessing other similar services. The Swedes were most likely to complain (81 per cent) followed by UK citizens (80 per cent) and the Spanish (79 per cent). Seventy two per cent of Finns and Irish said they would be willing to complain.
Irish people were above average in their willingness to complain verbally and were average when it comes to complaining in writing. Eighty-seven per cent said they would complain verbally, with a further 37 per cent saying they would complain in writing and 12 per cent said they would pursue the complaint to the courts.
More than a third of European citizens (37 per cent) said they knew their rights should they be discriminated against or harassed. Almost half said they did not and the remainder were unsure or thought it depended on the circumstances.
The findings show large differences between knowledge of their rights under anti-discrimination laws among EU nationals. Seventy per cent of Finns said they knew their rights, compared to 53 per cent of Greeks, 43 per cent of Italians and 40 per cent of Irish. Belgians, Austrians, people from eastern Germany and Danes were least likely to know their rights.
Most Europeans said they believed a person's ethnic origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation or age could be an obstacle in finding a job, even where qualifications are equal.