Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The purpose of the provision is to ensure the exclusion is as narrow as possible. Acceptance of the amendment would exclude from the provisions of the Equal Status Act 2000 the letting of separate or self-contained accommodation in the owner's home such as bed and breakfast accommodation or a self-contained apartment in a house.

As Members may be aware, the Equal Status Act 2000 includes an exemption for small premises occupied by a provider or a relative. The race directive does not provide for such an exemption. However, it provides, in Recital IV, that it is important, in the context of the access to and provision of goods and services, to respect the protection of private and family life and transactions carried out in that context. The protection of private and family life is a fundamental right covered by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is important that the right to non-discrimination be applied with due respect to the protection of private and family life.

The Government proposal is, therefore, to provide a very narrow exemption excluding the provision of accommodation by a person in a part other than a separate and self-contained part of the person's home where the provision of the accommodation affects the person's private life or that of any other person residing in the home. The aim of the provision is to protect the privacy of persons in accommodation sharing arrangements. It is not the intention to exclude from the Equal Status Act the letting of self-contained accommodation or bed and breakfast accommodation. To do so, would be contrary to the race directive.

The addition of the words "or in circumstances" appears to indicate that the section refers to the provision of any accommodation as long as it affects the person's private or family life and is not restricted to the home and not to the sharing of premises. As outlined above, the aim of the exemption is to protect the privacy of persons in accommodation sharing arrangements. It is not the intention to exclude from the Equal Status Act the letting of accommodation which is not part of the owner's home.

This amendment is not consistent with the race directive and, for that reason, I am unable to accept it.