Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 122:

In page 19, line 14, to delete "be conducted otherwise than in public." and substitute the following:

"not be conducted in public unless——

(a) the applicant requests otherwise,

(b) the complaints officer believes a public hearing would be more appropriate.".

The purpose of the amendment is to provide that a hearing before a complaints officer, rather than always being held in camera, shall instead be conducted in private unless the person with a disability requests that it be held in public, or unless the complaints officer is of the opinion that a public hearing would also be in the public interest. This should only occur with the complainant's consent and it is an oversight on my part that the complainant's consent was not included in the amendment.

This proposal is a partial antidote to the ways in which the legislation prevents the claims of a person with disability, including discrimination claims, from being heard in public. This includes the prohibitions on legal redress under section 20, which should be deleted as an unreasonable infringement on the rights of people with disabilities in order to protect the Government of the day. This is not rights based legislation as there are no judicial rights included. Other groups have raised this point, including the Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International and the DLCG. The Minister should consider taking this amendment on board as well as the extra stipulation of the complainant's consent.

See this speech in context