Equal status legislation in Ireland in the provision of goods and services
Principal Investigator: Judy Walsh(Asst. Prof. in Social Justice).
Funding organisations for current ongoing work: IHREC and European Commission
Background
Ireland’s anti-discrimination laws were expanded significantly in the late 1990s. The Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equal Status Act 2000 provided for nine discriminatory grounds, expanding the legal framework beyond its previous focus on gender in the workplace. Over the past two decades, the associated statutory infrastructure has also been overhauled. In 2014, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) was established as Ireland’s national equality body. IHREC is equipped with a range of powers to enforce and promote compliance with the law. In 2015, a new entity, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), was designated as the primary forum for hearing anti-discrimination law complaints. The latest reform initiative began in July 2021 when the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth launched the first comprehensive review of Irish anti-discrimination law since its enactment. The first phase comprised a public consultation process with written submissions elicited by early December 2021. The scope of the review is wide-ranging. Its overall aim is to examine the functioning of the relevant acts and their effectiveness in combating discrimination and promoting equality.
Publication of first major text on the Equal Status Acts: In 2010, Judy Walsh was commissioned by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties to write a book providing accurate, comprehensive information about the operation of the law in practice. The book, Equal Status Acts 2000-2011: Discrimination in the Provision of Goods and Services (Blackhall Press), was published in 2012. It explains the types of actions or omissions that amount to discrimination, examines relevant case law and looks at how the Acts are enforced. The text informs a broad range of audiences about the influential Equal Status Acts. These groups include legal practitioners and their clients; academics and students; advocates and advice providers; non-governmental organisations; and providers of goods, services, accommodation and education.
Current and ongoing work
Supported by IHREC and the European Commission, Walsh continues to research and develop this area of scholarship. She is currently working on an update of the 2012 book, assisted by an IHREC grant.
Her report on ‘Housing Assistance and Discrimination’, commissioned by IHREC and co-authored with Rory Hearne (NUI Maynooth), was published in 2022. In the meantime, she produces a range of research outputs for the European Equality Law Network, including an annual country report on Irish non-discrimination law.
See full report pdf for download at this link: (opens in a new window)https://www.ihrec.ie/documents/housing-assistance-and-discrimination-a-scoping-study-on-the-housing-assistance-ground-under-the-equal-status-acts-2000-2018/
Outcomes and impact
The original textbook on discrimination law has had a major impact, as demonstrated by the fact that this work has been: Cited by the Irish Supreme Court; Regularly referenced by the Workplace Relations Commission; Influential in reform of domestic legislation, as acknowledged in the Oireachtas debates on the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014. On foot of this scholarship and expertise, Judy Walsh was appointed in 2016 as the Irish expert (non-discrimination law) on the European Equality Law Network (EELN), which is overseen by the European Commission and entails comprehensive analysis of the national discrimination law and policy framework in light of EU law. Her country reports for the EELN were heavily referenced in submissions to the government’s ongoing review of Irish anti-discrimination legislation. In 2022, she was appointed to IHREC’s advisory committee on the future of equality law in Ireland. This ongoing scholarship is also of critical importance to Judy’s teaching in the UCD Law and Social Justice undergraduate degree. Walsh was centrally involved in the establishment of the Structured Elective in Social Justice in 2011, the introduction of a Minor in Social Justice on the BCL programme in 2013, and the formal recognition of Social Justice as a university subject in 2016. Judy has been the academic coordinator of the Minor since its inception; she coordinates major innovations in how Social Justice is taught and assessed, and has overseen the mapping and management of assessment and pedagogical strategies across the programme.
For further information please contact Dr Judy Walsh. Email: (opens in a new window)Judy.Walsh@ucd.ie