Niall Crowley: Landlord discrimination row is very revealing

The recent row about discrimination by landlords between the Workplace Relations Commission and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission came and went with little more than a ripple.

Yet the spat revealed more than it resolved. It suggested both institutions might be in dereliction of their duties.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) fell foul of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for issuing a guidance note on the new provisions in equality legislation that prohibit discrimination by landlords, letting agencies, and property advertisers against tenants or prospective tenants in receipt of rent supplement, housing assistance or other social welfare payments.

The WRC did not seem to be aware of these provisions that were enacted at the start of the year.

Kieran Mulvey, its director general, said the WRC was not the appropriate body to deal with this issue because it was not a workplace issue.

He bemoaned how anyone could expect the WRC to take on such an issue given that it was up to its necks in industrial disputes and had 5,000 employment rights cases to be adjudicated on.

He dismissed any WRC capacity to deal with complaints on this issue.

He queried how could it know what evidence was required, how could it establish such evidence, and how could it know whether the complaint was vexatious or real?

You would not suspect from his interventions that the WRC is actually responsible for hearing, mediating, and deciding the broad range of discrimination cases in the provision of goods, services, education and accommodation, under the Equal Status Acts, and in employment under the Employment Equality Acts.

Organisations

The WRC was established last year through a merger of five organisations including the

Equality Tribunal

, which used to deal with these cases.

You would have to worry about how cases of discrimination are faring in a new institution that appears to give no priority to them.

The Employment Law Association of Ireland has raised concerns about the WRC. It noted, in a February 2016 submission, that the rules of procedure of the WRC do not address how hearings are to be conducted.

It identifies concerns that “there is inconsistency in how adjudication officers apply basic rules of fair procedure; for example, the permissibility of cross-examination and the application of rules of evidence”.

Cases are heard in private and there does not appear to be any monitoring of decisions by adjudication officers.

It suggested that this situation does “not guarantee users’ constitutionally-protected right to a fair hearing”.

The IHREC did at least issue a briefing leaflet for landlords and Emily Logan, the chief commissioner, did go on the media to defend this.

She made a point of highlighting that people might not know the Equality Tribunal has been subsumed into the WRC, and that the WRC was the place to go if you have been discriminated against.

However, she strangely failed to point out the crucial supports that the IHREC could provide in making such a complaint.

Legal advice

The IHREC has powers to provide legal advice and support to individuals to bring forward cases of discrimination under the equality legislation to the WRC. It can take discrimination cases in its own name to the WRC.

You would have to worry at any reluctance in the IHREC to make use of such powers as these powers make the IHREC a formidable champion for equality. The IHREC could have taken a case in its own name on discrimination by landlords to test out the WRC’s position.

It should have offered far more hope to those facing homelessness due to discrimination by landlords by communicating the supports the IHREC can offer to those facing such discrimination.

The WRC needs to provide reassurance that it is giving cases of discrimination due consideration.

This can only be done by establishing a dedicated unit within the WRC to deal with these cases.

The IHREC needs to provide reassurance that it is committed to using its powers to establish a culture of compliance among landlords. Niall Crowley is a former head of the Equality Authority