Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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115. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if there is specific legislation in place that recognises that service animals are used by a number of different persons with various disabilities, such as autism, epilepsy, vision impairment, brain injury and hearing loss, which prohibits discrimination against a person with a service animal with respect to accommodation, services or facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35626/16]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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The Equal Status Act 2000 prohibits discrimination in the provision of goods and services, the provision of accommodation and access to education, on any of a number of grounds including that of disability. I would draw the Deputy's attention to section 4, which addresses the reasonable accommodation needs of people with disabilities. The Employment Equality Act 1998 prohibits discrimination in a wide range of employment and employment-related areas; these include recruitment and promotion, equal pay, working conditions, training or experience, dismissal and harassment including sexual harassment. Again, the issue of reasonable accommodation is addressed in sections 3 and 4.

I cannot provide legal advice by way of replies to parliamentary questions or otherwise interpret the application of these provisions. However, any person may obtain advice from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission if they feel that they have been discriminated against contrary to equality legislation, including advice on how to take a claim to the Workplace Relations Commission which provides a free and accessible adjudication service.