Discrimination against people on the grounds of their race has again emerged as the largest single complaint to the Equality Authority under the Equal Employment Act.
Almost one third of all cases taken by the authority in 2004 related to allegations of serious exploitation of migrant workers.
This was followed by cases involving claims of discrimination on gender grounds, which accounted for almost a quarter of all cases. These mainly related to pregnancy-related discrimination and sexual harassment.
The figures are contained in the Equality Authority's annual report, which will be launched by the Minister for Justice today. It marks the fifth full year of the operation of the Equality Authority.
Under the Equal Status Act, which deals with discrimination in the provision of goods and services, Travellers continued to make up the largest group, with 35.4 per cent of all complaints coming from them. People with disabilities made up a quarter, and members of racial minorities accounted for 12.2 per cent.
One of the services to emerge as problematic was the provision of accommodation, notably by local authorities. The case files reveal examples like the provision of accommodation to a Traveller family, and to a Traveller with a disability.
However, the single greatest area of controversy in the provision of services remained the licensed premises business. Of the 509 case files on equal status, 145 related to licensed premises, closely followed by the provision of public services (126). There were 74 complaints about discrimination in education, and 35 about insurance companies.
One of the functions of the Equality Authority is the provision of information and advice, and 11,257 queries were received in 2004. There was an increase in those relating to the rights of employees who are parents, and which are covered by the Maternity Protection Act, the Parental Leave Act and the Adoptive Leave Act.
The authority also provides support to organisations and companies seeking to improve their compliance with the legislation. In 2004 such support included work with schools and the Department of Education to ensure that anti-discrimination measures were included in school plans and whole school evaluations.
One health board, the North West Health Board, volunteered for an equal status review with the Equality Authority. This involved an examination of five areas of its activities. According to the Equality Authority's chief executive, Niall Crowley, it will be discussing these issues with other health boards and it is hoped that positive anti-discrimination policies will be integrated into the work of the Health Service Executive from the various health boards.
The authority also worked with Isme, the small firms lobby group, to assist its members with the development of their equality policies.
Research had shown that many small firms feared the impact the implementation of the legislation would have on their businesses. The authority established a funding scheme, including the services of a consultant, to help them, and had a very positive response, according to Mr Crowley.
"This kind of work is the future, as it ensures systems are in place to prevent discrimination taking place," he said.
He added that there had been improvements in the legal protections afforded certain groups through new legislation during the year, notably the increased responsibilities on employers to assist people with disabilities access employment.