Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Equality is at the core of republicanism and a basic principle of any modern-day society. The purpose of this Bill is to ensure that people can no longer be discriminated against on the basis that they are from a disadvantaged socio-economic area, background or accent. For example, if this Bill is enacted, employers and service providers could not discriminate against a job applicant or current employee because of their accent or the socio-economic status of the area they come from.

Over the past 20 years, there have been countless reports and many recommendations have been made for this inclusion. In 2019, Paul McKeon, on behalf of the Institute of International and European Affairs, noted in his work that the continued exclusion of socio-economic status has created a hierarchy of equality in Ireland, where the State sends a message that it has protections against some forms of discrimination but allows others.

During the previous Dáil, Fianna Fáil looked to pass a similar Bill and got support from Sinn Féin and the Greens. I hope that support will be returned for this Bill, which will address the concerns Fianna Fáil and the Green Party had then.

On the topic of lived experience in parts of the Dublin South-East constituency which I serve, this is a systemic issue that dates back generations for people who live in local authority flat complexes and who report high levels of generational and present-day social exclusion and discrimination, which is directly and indirectly due to their social and economic background. In one example, a young constituent from a flat complex, who had a master’s degree and is a fluent Portuguese speaker, reported to me that after submitting a video application for a job in a multinational company, he was later contacted by a concerned employee of that large multinational company. This employee informed him that fellow employees had joked and mocked the young individual’s inner-city Dublin accent, with one questioning how and where "the knacker" picked up Portuguese while reviewing his video application.

On a final note, this Bill is an important step in sending out a message to society and to those who are affected by this type of discrimination that it is unacceptable. I believe the Government can, and will, support this Bill.

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