Ms Jane O'Sullivan:

To take up the point Ms Keatinge made about tribunals, when the Workplace Relations Commission was established, one of its aims was to make the system more accessible and informal for people who were taking equal status or employment equality cases. The reality, however, is that if one is representing a client of the law centre at the Workplace Relations Commission, the employer always brings what is often an extensive legal team so the inequality of arms is very apparent. In those circumstances one is looking at a relationship that is unbalanced with regard to resources. That is a difficulty in circumstances where the civil legal aid scheme does not cover that tribunal. There is certainly a gap there in terms of information, advice and representation.