IHREC says new protected grounds on criminal convictions and socio-economic status necessary in equality law to tackle discrimination

20th July 2023

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) has published a second set of recommendations to Government as part of ongoing engagement with the Review of the Equality Acts, including the Equal Status Acts 2000-2018 and the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015.

As Ireland’s national equality body, the Commission is recommending that equality legislation be changed to include discrimination on the ground of socio-economic status and on the ground of criminal conviction.

On the introduction of a socio-economic status ground, and following two decades of calls for its introduction, the Commission believes “it is a matter of justice that this ground be incorporated into Irish legislation” and its introduction would not only strengthen the effectiveness of the Equality Acts, but would constitute a crucial shift in the equality landscape in Ireland (See page 50 of submission).

On the introduction of a criminal conviction ground, the Commission recommends the inclusion of a broad prohibition on discrimination on the ground of criminal conviction that is not limited to spent convictions, in both the Employment Equality Act and the Equal Status Act, and further research, safeguarding victims’ rights, to be conducted to determine the appropriate exemptions needed in relation to this ground (See page 67 of submission).

In addition, the Commission makes further specific recommendations relating to these grounds including:

• an asymmetric (limits the ground to only those who are disadvantaged because of their socio-economic status) approach be applied in defining a new socio-economic ground.
• the inclusion of indicators within the definition of the socio-economic ground.
• the removal of the provision ‘socially or geographically identifiable group’ from the definition of socio-economic disadvantage in the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021.
• the inclusion of a broad prohibition on discrimination on the ground of criminal conviction that is not limited to spent convictions, in both the Employment Equality Act and the Equal Status Act, and further research be conducted to determine the appropriate exemptions needed in relation to this ground.
• consideration be given to reframing the housing assistance ground as a ‘source of income’ ground which would apply to the entire material scope of the Equality Acts.

The full submission from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is available at the following link here.