The European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland (EAPN) is calling for the Irish Government to show its full and immediate support for the inclusion of socio-economic status as an additional ground for discrimination under current Irish equality legislation.
The ground will ensure that those who have experienced discrimination and exclusion based on their housing status, address, income level, and family background, will have necessary redress under equality legislation.
The Central Statistics Office have said that 29.6% of those reporting discrimination stated it was on grounds other that those covered in the current legislation, with strong indication that “other grounds” relate to income status and location or address.
Commenting on these figures, EAPN Ireland director Paul Ginnell said that “socio-economic status does not present a burden greater than existing grounds already operating within current legislation”.
“The extensive research being called for by the Government in order to establish levels and locations of discrimination, as well as to further explore definitions, is heavy handed and ignores the experiences and learning already in place around equality legislation in Ireland and within other European jurisdictions.”