FLAC welcomes the publication and recommendations of the Oireachtas Committee Report which adopts our call for comprehensive new equality laws.

10 October 2025

The Joint Committee on Children and Equality has published their Report on the Pre-legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024.
In July, FLAC appeared before the Oireachtas Equality Committee as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Bill. We welcomed the General Scheme of the legislation, while also highlighting gaps where it could be improved.
The report recommends a number of reforms which FLAC had previously campaigned on, including our recommendation for consolidating the legislation and making it accessible and that a ground of socio-economic status be included in the legislation.
This new Equality Legislation is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to combat discrimination and create a more equal society. There is an all-party consensus from the Committee that we need comprehensive reform and we must progress this legislation through the Oireachtas with the recommendations included.

The report adopts our calls for comprehensive new equality laws. FLAC has campaigned for a long time for comprehensive reform of our equality legislation and the recommendations in the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny Report support our calls. In particular, we argued that the legislation should ban discrimination on the grounds of socio-economic status and this has been included the Committee’s recommendations.

FLAC has significant first-hand experience of our current equality legislation. As an independent law centre, we frequently provide representation in cases under the equality legislation before the Workplace Relations Commission (the ‘WRC’) and the courts. In 2024 alone, FLAC provided representation in relation to 102 complaints (or potential complaints) under the equality legislation. These cases involved alleged discrimination in employment and by shops, hotels, schools, healthcare providers, childcare providers and providers of public transport.

We welcome the changes that have been recommend by the Oireachtas Committee and look forward to seeing this legislation progress through the Oireachtas.

FLAC Chief Executive, Eilis Barry welcomed the publication of the report:

“I welcome the Joint Committee’s publication of the report and the recommendations to strengthen our equality legislation. It is particularly welcome that there is an all-party consensus for comprehensive reform of our equality legislation.

Our current equality legislation is limited in its scope and grounds, and it is ineffective in its remedies especially in cases under the Equal Status legislation such as discrimination claims concerning access to goods and services. We are acutely aware of the current limitations from the casework arising from our dedicated legal services for the Traveller, Roma and LGBTQI communities, our casework on behalf of people with disabilities, and the numerous NGOs that contact us all the time seeking advice and representation in equality cases. This Pre-Legislative Scrutiny report is one step closer to a comprehensive and inclusive equality legislation.

Ireland will hold the EU Presidency next year and, along with Commissioner McGrath holding the justice portfolio, we need to show vision and leadership at a European level in addition to improving national equality legislation.

The Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to combat discrimination and create a more equal society. It is paramount that this legislation now progresses through the Oireachtas with the recommendations from the Committee included.”

ENDS/

Notes to Editors:

The Report on Pre-legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 may be accessed here.
Eilis Barry’s full opening statement to the Joint Committee may be accessed here.
FLAC’s full written submission to the Committee may be accessed here.

FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) is an independent legal, human rights and equality organisation, which works in a number of different ways to promote equal access to justice:

FLAC provides early and preventive legal assistance through a Telephone Information & Referral Line and Free Legal Advice phone clinics.
As an Independent Law Centre, FLAC takes on a number of cases in the public interest each year which may have an impact beyond the individual.
It also operates a Roma Legal Clinic, a Traveller Legal Service and, until recently, a clinic for the LGBTQIA+ community.
FLAC operates PILA which facilitates NGOs to obtain legal assistance from private lawyers via its pro bono referral scheme.
FLAC makes policy recommendations in relation to areas of law that most impact on people living poverty and disadvantage, including equality and anti-discrimination law, social welfare law, credit and debt law, housing law, human rights law, and access to justice. This includes policy reports and submissions to national and international bodies, including Oireachtas Committees and human rights monitoring bodies.

FLAC played a central role in the Review of the Equality Acts:

FLAC has significant first-hand experience of the equality legislation. As an independent law centre, we frequently provide representation in cases under the equality legislation before the Workplace Relations Commission (the ‘WRC’) and the courts. In 2024 alone, FLAC provided representation in relation to 102 complaints (or potential complaints) under the equality legislation. These cases involved alleged discrimination in employment and by shops, hotels, schools, healthcare providers, childcare providers and providers of public transport. We acted in the first successful cases on the housing assistance ground, and the first ever successful case on behalf of a Roma woman concerning discrimination in a retail setting.
Along with INAR (the Irish Network Against Racism), FLAC provided training to lay advocates to support people bringing claims under the grounds of race and membership of the Traveller community. There was significant demand for access to the training.
The reform of the equality legislation has been a priority for FLAC - from our casework we are acutely aware if its limitations and the difficulties in making a claim. FLAC campaigned successfully for a comprehensive Review of the Equality Acts. Roderic O’Gorman TD, the then Minister for Equality, announced the Review when he delivered the closing address at FLAC’s equality law seminar series in June 2021.
FLAC was invited to become a member of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission’s (‘IHREC’) Advisory Committee on the Future of Equality Legislation (an expert group established to support IHREC’s engagement with the Review). The report to arise from the work of that group adopted FLAC’s detailed recommendations on access to justice for victims of discrimination.
FLAC has assisted and facilitated civil society engagement with the Review. A number of NGOs working with disadvantaged and vulnerable communities sought our assistance in making submissions to the Review in light of the complexity of the legislation and the importance of the issues under consideration to their communities. Having discussed their issues with the legislation, in November 2021, we published an accessible guide on making a submission to the Review. In the same month, FLAC and IHREC launched a joint project, Equality Action, to support and strengthen civil society engagement with the Review.
The General Scheme which has resulted from the Review of the Equality Acts, reflects many of FLAC’s recommendations. FLAC made detailed submissions to the Review and we believe that that our recommendations provide a blueprint for a next generation equality framework which promotes full equality in practice and achieves transformative change. We have submitted draft legislative amendments to the Department which would give effect to our recommendations.
FLAC appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Equality in July 2025 as part of the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024.