The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (“the Commission”) has provided legal assistance to a deaf woman in a discrimination claim against a public service. The woman attempted to access the service over the telephone with the assistance of an Irish Sign Language interpreter. However, she was refused access to the service in this way….
Concerns raised over lack of protections and safeguards in new Garda legislation Today the Commission has set out its concerns with the proposed General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to introduce the use of facial recognition technology by An Garda Síochána. The highly intrusive nature of facial recognition technology…
If we are to advance equality, it is crucial that we amend our equality laws to include socio-economic status as a ground of discrimination. This is a central message from a conference held today by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, in Dublin Castle, on Achieving Equality at Work: Promoting Socio-Economic Equality in Employment….
Economic Inequality a Barrier to Realising Fundamental Rights The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) has today called on the State to urgently update equality law, during the life of this Government, to make it illegal to discriminate against a person based on their socio-economic status. In a policy paper published today; ‘Policy…
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) has today been granted leave from the High Court to exercise its amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) function in a significant case focused on redress for survivors of historic child sexual abuse in schools. As amicus curiae in this case [KW v the Minister for Education, the…
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (“the Commission”) has provided legal assistance to a man in a discrimination claim under the Employment Equality Acts. The man commenced employment with the respondent employer over a decade ago and on reaching the age of 66 was made to retire. He had alleged that his contract of…
Significant public investment had protective and stabilising role, study finds, but inequality persists A new study from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), published today, explores the equality impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the labour market, comparing the situation pre- and post-pandemic. Findings…
Student with visual impairment secures greater digitisation of State examinations A successful legal challenge that was assisted by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) has resulted in a significant expansion of the examinations scheme, the Commission today announced. This includes an expansion of accommodations available for Leaving Certificate as well as the…
The European Committee of Social Rights raises ongoing concern with the State on Traveller accommodation, social housing, and collective bargaining rights The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (“the Commission”) today welcomed the publication of the European Committee of Social Rights’ (“the ECSR”) ‘Findings of 2023’. The report assessed Ireland’s follow-up actions in response to…
Scheme must include everyone who spent time in Mother and Baby Institutions As the payment scheme for survivors of the mother and baby institutions opens today (see the Scheme’s homepage here), the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission welcomed the Scheme, but reiterated a number of recommendations that would improve the compliance of the Act…