The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Mr. Roderic O'Gorman, has launched a consultation seeking the public's views on a review of the Equality Acts (Equal Status Acts 2000-2018 and the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015). The consultation will be open from 6 July 2021 to 29 October 2021. Submissions are invited on a range of issues including, the functioning of the Acts and their effectiveness in combatting discrimination and promoting equality; awareness of the legislation; and whether there are obstacles to taking an action under the Acts. Submissions are also invited on the scope of the current definitions of the nine equality grounds. This will include consideration of the gender ground, the disability ground and whether new grounds should be added, such as the ground of socio-economic discrimination. Further consultations are planned for Autumn 2021. Further details on the consultation are available here.
This article contains a general summary of developments and is not a complete or definitive statement of the law. Specific legal advice should be obtained where appropriate.