A Major Step for the Recognition of a Socio-Economic Ground of Discrimination

In June 2017, Deputy Jim O’ Callaghan and Deputy Fiona O’ Loughlin
introduced a Private Bill in front of Dáil Éireann to amend the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equal Status Act 2000 by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of a person’s social and economic background.

After an adoption of this first step in June 2017, the “second step” debates took place in the Parliament on the 8th and 9th November 2017 and the The Dáil divided in this way: Yes 85; No 48; Abstained.

This is an historic step forward gained mainly by activists and volunteers from the  “Equality and Rights Alliance” which published in 2016 ‘An analysis of the introduction of socio-economic status as a discrimination ground’, a report examining the existence and use of the ground in equality law and policies across Europe.

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On the very same day, All Together in Dignity Europe published a position paper to call for an all EU recognition of the “socio-economic ground” in national and European equality and anti-discrimination laws.