Government publishes updated anti-discrimination Bill

Discrimination on the grounds of gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age or disability will be outlawed under the Equal Status Bill 1999, which was published yesterday. The legislation, which also bans discrimination on grounds of religion, race, colour, ethnic origin or membership of the Travelling community, replaces the Equal Status Bill 1997.

This was withdrawn after the Supreme Court found some of its provisions unconstitutional, including the questions of "vicarious liability" and of what constituted reasonable accommodation for the disabled.

In its new form, the legislation prohibits refusal of service on certain specified grounds, but not where the decision is taken "in good faith for the purpose of complying with the Licensing Acts" or where the service provider has reason to fear disorderly conduct or damage to property.

Services are defined broadly to include transport, entertainment and refreshment, banking and insurance and the provision of access to public places generally.

Anti-discrimination cases, other than those involving registered clubs, will be dealt with by the Director of Equality Investigations. In the case of registered clubs found guilty of discrimination, the Bill allows that drinks licences may be removed.

The Labour Party welcomed the publication but said it was at a loss to understand the two-year delay in preparing the Bill when there were "no substantial changes" in it.

However, the party's spokeswoman on equality and law reform, Ms Jan O'Sullivan, criticised the proposed legislation's provision for the accommodation needs of the disabled, saying this was in keeping with the Government's "miserly approach" to the equality agenda.

"Reasonableness" would be measured in terms of cost, she said, adding: "This is the line of least resistance to the judgment of the Supreme Court and provides a very handy escape route to service providers who wish to ignore entirely their social obligations under the Bill."