THE LARGEST number of complaints received by the Equality Authority last year were made on the grounds of disability, according to its annual report.
Out of 4,640 complaints made to the authority under the Employment Equality Acts and the Equal Status Acts, almost 650 were made on the grounds of disability.
These included complaints related to the provision of education, health services and Government departments.
Discrimination on the basis of age was also high, with 558 complaints made under both pieces of legislation, and gender was the basis for 434 complaints.
Some 372 complaints were made on the basis of race.
People complained about general harassment, provision of services, education and accommodation under the Equal Status Acts and access to employment, working conditions, dismissal and bullying under the Employment Equality Acts.
Almost 10,500 people contacted the authority’s public information centre with queries on equality and family leave legislation, with over 4,000 queries under the Maternity Protection Acts, 1,500 on the Parental Leave Acts and 97 on the Adoptive Leave Acts.
The authority dealt with 736 case files; 374 under Employment Equality Acts and 301 under Equal Status Acts. Of the former, 98 related to age discrimination, 70 related to race and 59 to disability. Of the latter, 118 related to disability, 40 related to the Traveller community and 37 covered age issues.
Some 61 case files were also opened by the authority on grounds of discrimination under the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003, up from 49 in 2007.
Almost 60 per cent of these were complaints taken by the Traveller community; 23 per cent were on grounds of disability and 8 per cent were on race grounds.
Chairwoman of the Equality Authority Angela Kerins said the organisation’s ambitions were not in any way diminished by the “challenging times”.
She said it made sense for society to take active measures to ensure economic downturn did not create any downturn in values or ambitions for equality.
The organisation, which had a 45 per cent cut in its budget last year, was working “smart”, Ms Kerins said.
“2008 was a very busy and challenging time for the Equality Authority; the board’s energy, vigour and commitment sustained the organisation’s progress and focus in the emerging new context.”
Launching the document, Minister of State for Equality John Moloney said whatever the challenges had been in the past, they would be “absolutely huge” in the future.
“The very fact that your mission statement is the same . . . the very fact we are asking you to do that with a reduced fund of 45 per cent . . . . is a serious challenge.”
Given the fact that the authority’s budget was reduced, he would give “a serious commitment” to work with the authority.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Moloney said he would be meeting the authority to discuss ongoing difficulties created by cuts in finance, but he did not see any possibility of providing new funding.
Asked if he thought the organisation could fulfil its obligations under the financial constraints, he said to date they had managed well. “I am hopeful they will continue to manage.”
He also said he hoped the authority would take over the work of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, closed down last year following budget cutbacks.
“The authority must take up that particular remit . . . They must step into that breach,” he said.
