Dr. Aideen Hartney:

Then there is the higher cost of disability. Both of those compounding factors mean that civil legal aid would be even more beneficial in order to enable and support people to access their rights and in taking cases to the WRC. There is data to show the extent to which cases where people can afford legal representation are more successful or progress to an outcome for the individual, more so than those who are required to represent themselves due to cost constraints.

The other point to consider is the raising of the compensation cap. Reference has been made to it already. I refer to the one for discrimination at the point of accessing employment under the Equal Status Act, which has not been raised beyond 13%. A general point in that regard is that it is very difficult for somebody engaged in a recruitment process to muster the wherewithal to take a case for discrimination against a potential employer. Raising the cap on the compensation amount would serve as a greater deterrent to discrimination at that point in the employment journey, noting that disabled people have some of the worst employment outcomes in Ireland compared to the rest of Europe.