Proposals to have allegations of discrimination by publicans against Travellers and others dealt with by the District Courts will be discussed by the Cabinet shortly, The Irish Times has learned.
This would involve taking such cases out of the hands of the Equality Tribunal (ODEI), which investigates all allegations of discrimination under the Equal Status Act. This outlaws discrimination on nine grounds, including membership of the Travelling community.
However, this change, which is likely to be opposed by bodies representing minority groups, would be combined with a provision for complainants to be supported in the District Court by the Equality Authority.
The proposals will form part of a package of reforms of the licensing laws. Others are likely to include giving local authorities more discretion in deciding on opening hours, so that pubs in central-city areas, for example, would not be subject to the same licensing hours as those in rural or suburban areas.
These likely changes follow a report last December from the Commission on Liquor Licensing, which suggested that complaints under the Equal Status Act should be taken out of the hands of the Equality Tribunal and given to the District Courts.
In its report the commission said there was a lack of consistency in the decisions made by the Equality Tribunal and that this generated a lack of confidence in adjudication process. The suggestion was warmly welcomed by the Licensed Vintners' Assocation.
The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr Willie O'Dea, told The Irish Times yesterday that he favoured such a change. "The respondents don't have confidence in the Equality Tribunal," he said. "There are procedural difficulties. The respondents say they can't get information about the case against them. There is a need to formalise it a bit more."
He said that a possible alternative to asking the District Courts to deal with it was setting up a separate tribunal, along the lines of the Employment Appeals Tribunal, which has representatives of both employers and unions hearing all claims. But the advantage of giving it to the District Courts was that they already dealt with licensing matters.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, who will bring proposals to Cabinet shortly on the reform of the licensing laws, also favours the District Courts examining such claims, with the proviso that complainants would have the support of the Equality Authority.
However, such a change is likely to be opposed by representatives of Travellers and other groups who have experienced discrimination. They argue that they lack the resources to fight cases in the formal context of the courts, and the Equality Authority is likely to argue that it lacks the resources to represent all the cases brought.