The head of the Equality Authority has expressed concern that progress made under anti-discrimination laws could be reversed by recent Government moves.
Mr Niall Crowley, from the independent body which promotes equality, warned that one of two initiatives announced this week "runs this risk of opening up the Equal Status Act in a way that's unhelpful". The Act, introduced about a year and a half ago, outlaws discrimination in the marketplace.
Mr Crowley's concerns follow the announcement this week by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, that publicans will be allowed to ban children from their premises under an amendment to the Act currently being drawn up.
This move follows controversy over a ruling last December that a visually impaired man accompanied by his 13-year-old son was discriminated against under the Act by a Dublin publican who refused to serve him. The case was taken by Mr John Maughan, who was refused service in the Glimmer Man pub in Stoneybatter. Mr Maughan was awarded €2,539 in the case.
Mr O'Donoghue said that the ruling by an equality officer gave rise to widespread concern. The effect of the decision was that parents were entitled to bring their children into licensed premises with them if they wished, he said.
"The proposed amendment will make clear that decisions taken in good faith by licensees not to allow children under 15 years old into their bars or to set conditions on allowing children in, shall not constitute discrimination."
Explaining his decision, the Minister said many bars were unsuitable for children for health and safety reasons.
However, Mr Crowley said such a reaction to one case which had generated pressure and public controversy was "a dangerous precedent in managing the Equal Status Act, which is still very new".
Mr O'Donoghue also announced this week that the Government had extended the terms of the Liquor Licensing Commission to examine the right of pub-owners to refuse admission to people they believed posed a threat to others' safety. The commission is already conducting a review of the liquor licensing code and will shortly make recommendations.
Mr Crowley said the commission was dominated by publicans, restaurateurs and hoteliers and did not include any equality bodies. The extension of its terms "runs the risk of opening up the Equal Status Act in a way that's unhelpful", he added.