Equality Tribunal Annual Report 2006 – Aug '07

The Equality Tribunal published its Annual Report for 2006 on 25th July 2007. The Tribunal is an independent, impartial, quasi-judicial body which hears, or mediates, claims of alleged discrimination under the following Acts:

The decisions of the Equality Tribunal in claims and in mediation are legally binding.

The Report shows that there continues to be an increase in the number of claims taken to the Equality Tribunal. The Tribunal received claims from 7,100 individuals in 2006 (this includes both Employment Equality and Equal Status cases). There was a 12% increase overall in the number of Employment Equality cases lodged with the Tribunal. The most notable increase in Employment Equality cases were claims taken on the ground of race. There was a 78% increase in 2006 on the number of cases taken on the basis of race (an increase from 82 cases in 2005, to 146 cases in 2006).

Other notable increases/decreases include:

Employment Equality claims were successful in 44% of cases. The average award ordered by the Tribunal for Employment Equality cases increased by 17%, to €10,113, in 2006.

The Director of the Equality Tribunal, Ms. Melanie Pine, noted that this trend towards increasing referrals continues in 2007. There was an increase of 55% in the overall number of referrals, relating to Employment Equality, in the first 6 months of 2007. Again, the increase in race-related cases further builds on the pattern of 2006, with an increase of 123% in the first 6 months of 2007. Also, although there was a decrease in referrals on the basis of disability in 2006, there is an increase once again on this ground for the first 6 months of 2007 (an increase of 122%).

An effective approach for cases referred to the Tribunal is for the parties to engage in Mediation. There were 223 cases referred to Mediation in 2006, and 56% of these cases were resolved.

Finally, Ms Pine acknowledged the support of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in securing additional resources for the Tribunal. It is hoped that the extra staff will recruited by the end of 2007, which will help offset the increasing demands being made on the Tribunal.

The Equality Tribunal Annual Report, 2006, is available on the Equality Tribunal website (www.equalitytribunal.ie).