Equal status act 2000 for Ireland

“Authority” means the Equality Authority;

“Director” means the Director of Equality Investigations appointed under section 75(1) of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 ;

“disability” means—

(a)    the total or partial absence of a person's bodily or mental functions, including the absence of a part of a person's body,

(b)    the presence in the body of organisms causing, or likely to cause, chronic disease or illness,

(c)     the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of a person's body,

(d)    a condition or malfunction which results in a person learning differently from a person without the condition or malfunction, or

(e)    a condition, disease or illness which affects a person's thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgement or which results in disturbed behaviour;

“discriminate” means to discriminate within the meaning of section 3 (1) or 4(1);

“discriminatory grounds” has the meaning given by section 3 (2);

“family status” means being pregnant or having responsibility—

(a)    as a parent or as a person in loco parentis in relation to a person who has not attained the age of 18 years, or

(b)    as a parent or the resident primary carer in relation to a person of or over that age with a disability which is of such a nature as to give rise to the need for care or support on a continuing, regular or frequent basis,

and, for the purposes of paragraph (b), a primary carer is a resident primary carer in relation to a person with a disability if the primary carer resides with the person with the disability;

“goods” means any articles of movable property;

“marital status” means being single, married, separated, divorced or widowed;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform;

“near relative” means a spouse, lineal descendant, ancestor, brother or sister;

“person”, as that term is used in or in relation to any provision of this Act that prohibits that person from discriminating or from committing any other act or that requires a person to comply with a provision of this Act or regulations made under it, includes an organisation, public body or other entity;

“premises” includes any immovable property;

“proceedings”, when used without qualification, includes any referral, mediation or investigation under Part III but does not include criminal proceedings under this Act;

“prohibited conduct” means discrimination against, or sexual harassment or harassment of, or permitting the sexual harassment or harassment of, a person in contravention of this Act;

“refusal” includes a deliberate omission;

“religious belief” includes religious background or outlook;

“service” means a service or facility of any nature which is available to the public generally or a section of the public, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, includes—

(a)    access to and the use of any place,

(b)    facilities for—

(i)      banking, insurance, grants, loans, credit or financing,

(ii)     entertainment, recreation or refreshment,

(iii)    cultural activities, or

(iv)    transport or travel,

(c)     a service or facility provided by a club (whether or not it is a club holding a certificate of registration under the Registration of Clubs Acts, 1904 to 1999) which is available to the public generally or a section of the public, whether on payment or without payment, and

(d)    a professional or trade service,

but does not include pension rights (within the meaning of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 ) or a service or facility in relation to which that Act applies;

“sexual orientation” means heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual orientation;

“Traveller community” means the community of people who are commonly called Travellers and who are identified (both by themselves and others) as people with a shared history, culture and traditions including, historically, a nomadic way of life on the island of Ireland.

(2)    In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

(a)    a reference to a section or Part is to a section or Part of this Act,

(b)    a reference to a subsection, paragraph or other subdivision is to the subsection, paragraph or subdivision of the provision in which the reference occurs, and

(c)     a reference to an enactment is to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment, including this Act.

Discrimination (general).

3.—

(1)    For the purposes of this Act, discrimination shall be taken to occur where—

(a)    on any of the grounds specified in subsection (2) (in this Act referred to as “the discriminatory grounds”) which exists at present or previously existed but no longer exists or may exist in the future, or which is imputed to the person concerned, a person is treated less favourably than another person is, has been or would be treated,

(b)

(i)      a person who is associated with another person is treated, by virtue of that association, less favourably than a person who is not so associated is, has been or would be treated, and

(ii)     similar treatment of that person on any of the discriminatory grounds would, by virtue of paragraph (a), constitute discrimination,

or

(c)

(i)      a person is in a category of persons who share a common characteristic by reason of which discrimination may, by virtue of paragraph (a), occur in respect of those persons,

(ii)     the person is obliged by the provider of a service (within the meaning of section 4 (6)) to comply with a condition (whether in the nature of a requirement, practice or otherwise) but is unable to do so,

(iii)    substantially more people outside the category than within it are able to comply with the condition, and

(iv)    the obligation to comply with the condition cannot be justified as being reasonable in all the circumstances of the case.

(2)    As between any two persons, the discriminatory grounds (and the descriptions of those grounds for the purposes of this Act) are:

(a)    that one is male and the other is female (the “gender ground”),

(b)    that they are of different marital status (the “marital status ground”),

(c)     that one has family status and the other does not or that one has a different family status from the other (the “family status ground”),

(d)    that they are of different sexual orientation (the “sexual orientation ground”),

(e)    that one has a different religious belief from the other, or that one has a religious belief and the other has not (the “religion ground”),

(f)      subject to subsection (3), that they are of different ages (the “age ground”),

(g)    that one is a person with a disability and the other either is not or is a person with a different disability (the “disability ground”),

(h)     that they are of different race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origins (the “ground of race”),

(i)      that one is a member of the Traveller community and the other is not (the “Traveller community ground”),

(j)      that one—

(i)      has in good faith applied for any determination or redress provided for in Part II or III,

(ii)     has attended as a witness before the Authority, the Director or a court in connection with any inquiry or proceedings under this Act,

(iii)    has given evidence in any criminal proceedings under this Act,

(iv)    has opposed by lawful means an act which is unlawful under this Act, or

(v)     has given notice of an intention to take any of the actions specified in subparagraphs (i) to (iv),

and the other has not (the “victimisation ground”).

(3)    Treating a person who has not attained the age of 18 years less favourably or more favourably than another, whatever that other person's age, shall not be regarded as discrimination on the age ground.

(4)    The Minister shall, not later than two years after the commencement of this section, review the operation of this Act to assess whether there is a need to add to the discriminatory grounds specified in subsection (2).

Discrimination on ground of disability.

4.—

(1)    For the purposes of this Act discrimination includes a refusal or failure by the provider of a service to do all that is reasonable to accommodate the needs of a person with a disability by providing special treatment or facilities, if without such special treatment or facilities it would be impossible or unduly difficult for the person to avail himself or herself of the service.

(2)    A refusal or failure to provide the special treatment or facilities to which subsection (1) refers shall not be deemed reasonable unless such provision would give rise to a cost, other than a nominal cost, to the provider of the service in question.

(3)    A refusal or failure to provide the special treatment or facilities to which subsection (1) refers does not constitute discrimination if, by virtue of another provision of this Act, a refusal or failure to provide the service in question to that person would not constitute discrimination.

(4)    Where a person has a disability that, in the circumstances, could cause harm to the person or to others, treating the person differently to the extent reasonably necessary to prevent such harm does not constitute discrimination.

(5)    This section is without prejudice to the provisions of sections 7(2)(a), 9(a) and 15(2)(g) of the Education Act, 1998 , in so far as they relate to functions of the Minister for Education and Science, recognised schools and boards of management in regard to students with a disability.

(6)    In this section—

“provider of a service” means—

(a)    the person disposing of goods in respect of which section 5 (1) applies,

(b)    the person responsible for providing a service in respect of which section 5 (1) applies,

(c)     the person disposing of any estate or interest in premises in respect of which section 6 (1)(a) applies,

(d)    the person responsible for the provision of accommodation or any related services or amenities in respect of which section 6 (1)(c) applies,

(e)    an educational establishment within the meaning of subsection (1) of section 7 in relation to any of the matters referred to in subsection (2) of that section, or

(f)      a club within the meaning of section 8 (1) in respect of admission to membership or a service offered to its members,

as the case may be, and “service” shall be construed accordingly;

“providing”, in relation to the special treatment or facilities to which subsection (1) refers, includes making provision for or allowing such treatment or facilities, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly.