Mr. Ciarán Finlay:

I will very briefly make two points. First, there are a number of broad exemptions within the Equal Status Acts, which remain untouched within the general scheme. There are exemptions related to insurance providers and those that have already been mentioned regarding public functions. Section 14 of the Equal Status Act provides that anything that is outlined in legislation cannot be considered discriminatory. If there is a provision within legislation that is directly discriminatory or which has a disproportionate impact on a protected group, there is no ability to take a discrimination claim in relation to that provision.

The second point relates to reasonable accommodation. There are limits in terms of what can be done in this sphere, on foot of the Article 26 referral on which the Supreme Court adjudicated.

We think there is scope to build on a number of improvements into the general scheme. There is scope to require mandatory consultation with a person with a disability, where the person requests a reasonable accommodation measure. That is also referred to by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It says that there must be consultation with the disabled person. How do we know exactly what the person needs without actually consulting him or her? That is one of the things we have called for.

Another point is that, within the Employment Equality Acts, we are calling for explicit recognition that denial of reasonable accommodation constitutes discrimination. Again, that is something the UNCRPD committee has been very clear about. It is outlined in the UN Convention itself that denial of reasonable accommodation must be considered to be discrimination in and of itself. As I alluded to earlier, the Equal Status Acts include a provision that states that you do not have to provide a reasonable accommodation measure unless it is impossible or unduly difficult to access a service. That presents quite a big hurdle for some people in bringing reasonable accommodation claims, so we are advising that the provision be removed from the legislation as well.