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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
— village November - December 2009
, I received what could
be seen, at best, as a benign answer to a ques-
tion I’d submitted to Vladimir Spidla, European
Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs
and Equal Opportunities.
I asked if the Commission could indicate
whether it had initiated proceedings against
the Government regarding Ireland’s continued
compliance with the Race Directive, approved
by the European Parliament and by all EU
Governments in , and other EU equality
laws, given the massive cutback of % imposed
on The Equality Authority in October . The
Commission had previously issued formal warn-
ings to the Government regarding the incorrect
‘transposition’, or enactment into Irish law, of the
Race Directive.
The Commission responded that while
the Race Directive does not require member
states to provide a particular level of funding or
organisational structure for equality bodies, in
the absence of clear evidence suggesting that the
budget available to the Equality Authority was
not sufficient to carry out its duties, it could not
intervene on this matter.
But the Commission may get this evidence
sooner than it expects. The Equality Authority’s
budget has fallen from €.m to €.m in a year.
The number of posts will fall from to . The
number of case-files handled by the Authority
fell from in to just in . The
Authority was considering opening two formal
legal enquiries - one into the employment condi-
tions of disabled persons in sheltered workshops,
and the other into the conditions of agency work-
ers - but these have now been shelved.
So far this year, the number of legal cases
failing at the Equality Tribunal far outweighs
those succeeding. Furthermore, the number of
claims taken on multiple grounds of discrimina-
tion has fallen by some % over the previous
year. These claims typically require considera-
ble legal assistance from the Equality Authority
(there is no other free legal advice on discrimi-
nation specifically). It is becoming more than
evident that the disproportionate cut, cou-
pled with the complication of decentralisation,
means that The Equality Authority cannot “carry
out its duties”.
The fact that the Government conveniently
abolished the National Consultative Committee
on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) at the
same time as it silenced The Equality Authority
won’t have helped its case here.
This initial evidence – and I have no doubt
that the evidence bank will grow at the expense
of ordinary people living with discrimination –
is why I have supported a formal legal complaint
to the European Commission from Equality &
Rights Alliance (ERA) that Ireland has moved
from a tenuous compliance to non-compliance
with EU equality laws we helped negotiate and
voluntarily accepted nine years ago.
I have also supported a parallel petition to the
European Parliament. The petition can be heard
within a matter of months by the Parliament’s
Petitions Committee, which can then direct the
Commission to ask the Irish authorities to jus-
tify their position. The Parliament could then
make recommendations to the Commission or to
Irish Government. If the Commission, however,
upholds the complaint during the course of the
coming year, it has the right to refer Ireland to
the European Court of Justice for failing to com-
ply with its obligations under the Race Directive.
In that case, the only way the Government could
avoid legal action in the ECJ would be by provid-
ing adequate and proportionate funding to its
national equality body.
In contrast to the Irish Government’s actions,
recent developments at EU level seek to further
strengthen equality bodies, as part of Europe’s
deepening equality agenda. In July , the
Commission issued a long-anticipated proposal
for a directive tackling discrimination in the pro-
vision of services and goods. In its April
resolution on this draft, the European Parliament
adopted an amendment providing that Member
States must have in place an independently func-
tioning and adequately funded national body to
promote equal treatment. This amendment, and
others put forward by MEPs last April, are cur-
rently being discussed by Member States’ Justice
Ministers. This is one of the measures that has
suffered from Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon
Treaty last year, since Lisbon gives MEPs a much
stronger hand during the negotiations with the
Council on the adoption of anti-discrimination
directives (Art., TFEU Consolidated).
Equality legislation in Ireland is enjoying
only its -year anniversary. The Employment
Equality Act was enacted in , and in
November of the same year, the Equality
Authority was established. Over the past dec-
ade, the Irish Government has enthusiastically
held its equality laws forward as a model of good
practice within the EU and internationally.
In anticipation of these equality anniversa-
ries, the Government should be setting out how
Ireland will remain in the vanguard of equality
and human rights promotion and protection in
Europe. Sadly, it has used the cover of financial
constraints to mount a targeted attack on our
equality infrastructure, to silence critical voices
and to defy the spirit of EU equality law. It may
yet end up in the European Court of Justice as a
result.
’
Equality
A legal complaint that Ireland is in breach of EU law is the start of
vital evidence required to ensure that the European Commission takes
Ireland’s fall from equality grace seriously
p r o i n s i a s d e r o s s a m e p (l a b o u r )
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PHOTO: PHOTOCALL IRELAND
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Equality
of Trade Unions
(Congress) believes that much of the good
practice in employment equality that has
developed in Ireland has been facilitated by
a strong and functioning Equality Authority
over the past decade.
But, a lot can change in one year. Congress,
which resigned from the two seats normally
held by trade union nominees, now supports
a legal complaint submitted by the Equality &
Rights Alliance to the European Commission
that the Equality Authority is no longer inde-
pendent or effective and that Ireland is in
breach of EU equality law.
We believe that Government attacks on
the equality infrastructure over the past
year are in direct conflict with the inter-
ests of working people who have a funda-
mental right to work in environments free
from discrimination.
European law has been instrumental in
ensuring that Ireland is a better place to
work for all – not just those in professional or
managerial positions, but particularly those
in lower paid, temporary or contract posi-
tions. It has also underpinned the role of
trade unions and social partners in ensuring
the exercise of equality for all workers.
The EC Treaty commits the Community
and the Member States, to promote “dia-
logue between management and labour”.
The Treaty also contains provisions to pro-
mote dialogue between the social partners
to address different forms of discrimination
in the workplace and to foster equal treat-
ment by monitoring workplace practices,
collective agreements or codes of conduct,
for example. Finally, the Treaty contains
provisions setting out that the two sides of
industry – unions and employers – should
conclude agreements laying down anti-dis-
crimination rules. Good practice has devel-
oped in these areas since the inception of the
Equality Authority. Its ability to continue
and develop this work has been severely
hampered however.
The EC Race Directive, the Framework
Employment Directive and the Gender Equal
Treatment Directive all prohibit discrimina-
tion and all include trade unions within their
scope. Article of the Gender Directive con-
tains a specific commitment to encourage
employers to promote equal treatment for
men and women in the workplace in a planned
and systematic way.
In Ireland, much of the practical support
required to comply with these European
laws was provided by the specialist Equality
Mainstreaming Unit within The Equality
Authority. And research showed that
equality was good for business; a
study of of Ireland’s top companies by
the National Centre for Partnership and
Performance and the Equality Authority
confirmed a strong link between bottom-
line business performance and the use of
equality and diversity systems.
It is ironic, then, that at the very time
we need strong business performance, the
future of this vital business focused unit
is not guaranteed. As a double irony, this
unit attracts significant funding from the
European Commission but requires match-
ing funding from the Department of Justice
Equality and Law Reform to unlock those
funds. Disproportionate Government cut-
backs are not only crippling the effective-
ness of a state watchdog but are ensuring
that vital outside sources of revenue are also
being cut off.
Since the resignation of our represen-
tatives on the Equality Authority board in
January this year, the only correspondence
we have received from the Minister for Justice,
Equality and Law Reform is one requesting us
to nominate two more representatives. We
have sought dialogue with the Minister on
these issues but at the time of writing have not
yet been afforded the couRtesy of any reply.
We may have to look to Europe for some
answers. Both the Race Directive and the
Framework Employment Directive require
Member States to report to the Commission
on all necessary information so that it can
draw up a report to the European Parliament
and the Council on the application of the
Directives. This report has to take account
of the views of the social partners. We under-
stand that the next review is due in .
In the absence of any change of policy from
this current Government, we will continue to
support the work of organisations like the
Equality & Rights Alliance. Congress will
soon be launching its own campaign of oppo-
sition to our Government’s approach to the
current crisis. This will focus on Government
inaction on jobs, the threat of further cuts to
public services and the need to ensure that
the burden of economic adjustment is not
borne disproportionately by working peo-
ple and their families. Equality and fairness
are central to this campaign and must be inte-
gral to our national recovery.
The ICTU supports the legal complaint that The Equality Authority
is no longer independent or effective.
i c t u g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y d a v i d b e g g
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PHOTO: PHOTOCALL IRELAND
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