Plans to transfer jurisdiction for discrimination cases involving pubs from the Equality Authority to the District Courts have been criticised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
The measure is included in the Intoxicating Liquor Bill, which proposes a tightening of the licensing laws to deal with the problem of drink-related anti-social behaviour.
The Bill was published last week by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell.
Ms Joan Carmichael, assistant general secretary of ICTU, said it shared the Minister's concerns about the level of alcohol consumption and agreed with many of the measures proposed in the Bill.
The transfer of jurisdiction from the Equality Tribunal to the courts, however, was not related to the issue of alcohol consumption and was worthy of a separate debate.
The Bill proposes that people taking discrimination cases against licensed premises have their cases heard by a District Court, instead of the tribunal, as at present.
Ms Carmichael said this involved removing a "free redress process" and replacing it with a much more costly and less accessible courts system.
Among the questions ICTU would wish to see addressed were making all District Courts wheelchair-accessible, empowering and resourcing the Legal Aid Board to represent citizens taking cases and permitting community advocates to represent citizens in the District Courts.
Transferring cases from the tribunal to the courts would make access for citizens more difficult, more costly, less user-friendly and would remove the opportunity for mediation, she said.