autumn 2000

ViewpointChrissie O’Sullivan airs her views

Introducing the Equal Status Act 2000

p.2 Update by Niall Crowley

p.4 The Equality of InformationEquality Authority Resources

p.5 Working It Out Together The Equality Authority &The Equality Commission forNorthern Ireland

p.6 Introducing the Equal Status Act2000 by Eilis Barry

p.8 The Fight against Discriminationby Anna Diamantopoulou,EU Commissioner

p.10 Gender Equality in the Irish CivilService by Josephine Feehily

p.12 EU Briefing by Brian Harvey

p.14 North South East West Lynne Berry takes a countrywideview of equality issues

p.16 NESF Forum Plenary Session

p.18 Anti-Racist Workplace Initiative

p.19 Equality in the Local Authoritiesby Declan Naughton

p.21 Women 2000 Gender Equality,Development and Peace for the 21st-century by Barbara Cashen

p.22 Viewpoint - Chrissie O’ Sullivan

p.24 Spreading a Global Message Equality Authority website launch

p.24 Upcoming Events & Diary Dates

A European Contribution to the Fight against Discrimination

- Anna Diamantopoulou, European Commission

The Equality Authority is just about tocomplete it’s first year of work. Building anew institution alongside seeking to deliveron the potential of the EmploymentEquality Act 1998 has been a challenge -both difficult and exciting. Theforthcoming implementation of the EqualStatus Act 2000 further enhances anddevelops this challenge.

The implementation of the Equal Status Actis just one element within a very positivecontext for the Equality Authority.Implementation of the NationalDevelopment Plan is beginning, includingimportant equality measures under theaegis of the Department of Justice, Equalityand Law Reform. The Programme forProsperity and Fairness is well into its firstyear and valuable equality commitmentsare now being realised. The socialpartners are also involved in thepreparation of a National Economic andSocial Forum report setting out a strategicframework for action on equality issues.At EU level significant steps have beentaken in preparing directives on foot of thenew Treaty provision on non-discrimination.

These developments have been animportant focus for the work of theEquality Authority. A current priority ispreparing a communication strategy insupport of the Equal Status Act. This willseek to build a consciousness of the newrights and obligations established. Work isongoing to build our legal capacity torespond to those seeking to vindicate theirrights under this new legislation.

Four measures under the NationalDevelopment Plan will involve the EqualityAuthority. These are:

• The gender equality promotion and monitoring unit being set up in theDepartment of Justice, Equality and LawReform to support gender mainstreamingacross all operational programmes. TheEquality Authority will work as part ofthis unit to develop a researchprogramme to support gendermainstreaming.

• The Equality Authority will establish anequality unit to support outcomes forgroups covered by the Equalitylegislation from measures within theEmployment and Human ResourcesOperational Programme. This will havea particular remit in relation to peoplewith disabilities, Travellers and refugeesand will involve research initiatives.

• A programme of projects supportingfamily friendly workplace initiatives willbe developed by the Equality Authorityunder the regional operationalprogrammes through the Family Friendlyframework committee of the Programmefor Prosperity and Fairness.

• A programme of equality reviews andaction plans will be developed by theEquality Authority under the regionaloperational programmes.

UPDATE BY NIALL CROWLEY

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NiallCrowley,CEO,EqualityAuthority

Under the Programme for Prosperity andFairness the Equality Authority is workingwith Congress, IBEC and the Departmentsof Finance and Justice, Equality and LawReform to create a framework for equalityactivities at enterprise level. This will seekto develop practical approaches to a rangeof equality themes within clusters ofenterprises, to support the development of

an equalityinfrastructure within enterprises, and toenhance the engagement of enterpriseswith current equality initiatives.

The commitment in the Programme forProsperity and Fairness to action insupport of the 3% target for theemployment of people with disabilities inthe Public Service has also been a focusfor the Equality Authority. An initiative isbeing developed in partnership with theDepartment of Justice, Equality and LawReform to support a focus on positiveaction in the employment of people withdisabilities. This will involve aninformation brochure, a series of regionalseminars and a research project.

Alongside these initiatives the EqualityAuthority continues its work ofenforcement. There is significant demandon the information, legal and adviceservices of the Equality Authority. Thiswork is confined to the EmploymentEquality Act as the Equal Status Act is notyet in force. Gender remains the largestground where the main issues are equalpay, sexual harassment, access topromotion and pregnancy related

discrimination. The age and disabilitygrounds have also achieved someprominence. Access to employment andpromotion are core issues for both.Harassment emerges as a significant issueacross the age, race, disability, sexualorientation and Traveller grounds. Accessto employment also emerges as an issueunder the race and Traveller grounds.Casework by the Equality Authority nowcovers eight of the nine grounds under thelegislation - gender, age, race, disability,sexual orientation, membership of theTraveller community, marital status andreligion. The family status ground has yetto open up and possibly suffers from alack of clarity as to its coverage. Caseshave been lodged by the EqualityAuthority in the Office of the Director ofEquality Investigations and in the LabourCourt (which deals with dismissals). Anumber of cases - all on the genderground - have been successfullyconcluded. Other cases have been settledprior to lodgement - covering the gender,disability, sexual orientation and raceground.

An important island dimension to the workof the Equality Authority has opened upwith the commissioning of a joint researchproject with the Equality Commission forNorthern Ireland. This research projectwill explore the concept of an integratedequality agenda - and is detailed elsewherein Equality News. The valuable workingrelationship developed with the EqualityCommission has been further reinforced bya joint Board meeting. This took place inDublin and was addressed by the TánaisteMary Harney. This allowed for debate onthe differing contexts each organisationworks within alongside an exploration ofthe strategies pursued by each organisationand the potential for mutual learning andjoint initiative.

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Left to right:Joan Harbison, ChiefCommissioner, EqualityCommission; Kate Hayes,Chair, Equality Authority

The contributions made to this newsletter are welcome and appreciated.However, the opinions of outside contributors do not necessarily reflect theposition of the Equality Authority.

There are a number of Equality Authoritypublications available, which outline ourwork in different areas, our research intoequality issues and your rights. All of thisinformation is also available on ourwebsite (see back cover for more details).

GENERAL INFORMATIONCustomer Service Action Plan:Details of the commitment, principles andservices within the Equality Authority aswell as giving information on ourcustomers, staff and our complaintsprocedure.

Strategic Plan 2000 - 2002:Equality Authority’s work programme.

About Us:An introduction to The Equality Authorityand it’s role and functions.

Enforcing Your Rights Under theEmployment Equality Act:Step by step advice on what to do if youfeel you have been discriminated against inyour employment.

Your Right To Dignity At Work:Harassment and sexual harassment in theworkplace.

About The Maternity Protection, 1994:Explanatory leaflet giving information onthe Act and its requirements.

About The Parental Leave Act, 1998:Information for employees and employersconcerning our rights and obligationsunder the Parental Leave Act.

About The Adoptive Leave Act, 1995:Explanatory leaflet setting out the keyprovisions of the Adoptive Leave Act forthe information of employers andemployees.

Equality News:Quarterly newsletter of the EqualityAuthority.

OPINION SERIESBuilding The Picture (by Ursula Barry):The role of data in achieving equality.

RESEARCH SERIESInvesting In People (by Hugh Fisher):Family-friendly work arrangements in smalland medium sized enterprises.

VIDEOSThree videos are available:An Introduction to the Equality AuthorityThe Equal Status Act, 2000The Employment Equality Act, 1998.

All publications and videos are available forfree. For copies, or for any furtherinformation, please contact:Equality Authority, Clonmel Street, Dublin 2, Ireland

Lo Call: 1890 245 545 Tel: +353 1 417 3333Fax: +353 1 417 3366Text phone: +353 1 417 3385email: info@equality.ie www.equality.ie

THE EQUALITY OF INFORMATIONHow to find out more...

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About the Adoptive Leave Act 1995

Equality in a Diverse Ireland

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The Equality Authority in Ireland and theEquality Commission for Northern Irelandare committed to developing strategic co-operation in their work and to promotingcollaborative research. Both organisationsface similar challenges - particularly inrelation to the breadth of the equalityagenda, for which they are nowresponsible.

In Northern Ireland the equality agendaestablished for the Equality Commissionembraces gender, disability, race (includingmembership of the Traveller community),religion, political opinion, sexualorientation, age, marital status and familystatus. The equality agenda established forthe Equality Authority embraces gender,disability, race, membership of theTraveller community, religion, sexualorientation, age, marital status and familystatus.

Both organisations seek to realise the fullpotential of an integrated/comprehensiveapproach to this agenda. Equally bothorganisations are concerned to avoid anypotential pitfalls in such an approach. Asa result, the Equality Authority and theEquality Commission for Northern Irelandhave commissioned research entitled‘Conceptualising Equality Strategies -Reflecting a Comprehensive/IntegratedEquality Agenda’. The research work isbeing conducted by Dr. KatherineZappone, former Chief Executive of theNational Women’s Council of Ireland.

The research will address the followingquestions:-

1) What are the key principles and themesthat underpin an integrated and comprehensive equality agenda?

2) What is the rationale for and value ofapproaches based on an integrated/comprehensive equality agenda?

3) What are the barriers to suchapproaches and what potential pitfallsdo they present?

4) What is required of strategies to applythe integrated/comprehensive equality agenda in employment practices,provision of services and policy making?

In order for these questions to beanswered, the final report will include:

•An analysis of equality theory drawingon a range of relevant disciplines

• A comprehensive overview of definitionsof equality

•An examination of current debates inequality and poverty studies

•An analysis of relevant current policy andlegislation north and south, and

•A discussion of the policies and practicesof similar equality and human rightsagencies in other jurisdictions.

WORKING IT OUT TOGETHER The Equality Authority & the Equality Commissionfor Northern Ireland

Equality for Women FundingAnnouncement

The Minister of Justice, Equality and LawReform, Mr John O’Donoghue, TD,announced the availability of fundingunder the Equality for Women Measure ofthe Regional Operational Programmes onOctober 5th.

Application form and guidelines areavailable from the Department’s website atwww.irlgov.ie/justice or by phoning (01) 6632686.

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The Equal Status Act, 2000 moves theconcept of the prohibition againstdiscrimination beyond the workforce andinto the public arena where people buygoods, use services, obtain accommodation,and participate in educationalestablishments. The Act promotes equality,prohibits certain kinds of discrimination(with some exceptions), sexual harassmentand harassment on the discriminatorygrounds, in these areas. There are distinctprovisions in relation to clubs whichdiscriminate - (they may lose their licenceto sell alcohol). Like the EmploymentEquality Act, 1998 the Act prohibitsdiscrimination on the grounds of gender,marital status, family status, sexualorientation, religion, age, disability, race andmembership of the Traveller community.

DiscriminationThe definition of discrimination is broaderthan the Employment Equality Act, 1998and includes direct discrimination, indirectdiscrimination, discrimination by associationand or by imputation.

Sexual Harassment and HarassmentThe Act Prohibits sexual harassment andharassment on any of the nine grounds, ofthose using goods or services provided bythe harasser, or those obtainingaccomodation provided by the harasser andof students at an educational establishmentwhere the harasser is in a position ofauthority. Sexual harassment andharassment involves acts with a sexualconnotation that are unwelcome and whichcould reasonably be regarded as offensive,humiliating or intimidating to the victim.Harassment is like sexual harassment - butwithout the sexual element. A person whois responsible for the operation of any placethat it is an educational establishment or atwhich goods, services or accomodationand/or facilities are offered to the publicshall not allow another person who hasright to be there or to use the goods,facilities etc. to suffer sexual harassment orharassment at that place.

Disability - Reasonable AccomodationA person selling goods, providing services,accommodation, educational establishmentsand clubs must do all that is reasonable toaccommodate the needs of a person with adisability by providing special treatment orfacilities. This obligation is limited wherethe provision of special treatment orfacilities would cost more than what iscalled nominal cost.

Goods and ServicesPeople cannot discriminate (subject tocertain exceptions) when they are providinggoods or services to the public (or sectionof it), whether for free or where the goodsare paid for. "Goods" are defined verybroadly and can range from computers tocars, board games to boats. A service is afacility or service of any nature includingbut not exclusively facilities for:•Banking, insurance, grants, loans, credits

or financing,•Entertainment, recreation or refreshment,•Cultural activities,•Transport or travel,•A service or facility provided by a club

(which is available to the public or asection of it),

•A professional trade or service.

Services provided by the State, healthboard, local authorities etc., are covered(subject to the exception that anythingrequired by statute or EU law is exempted).

Exemptions - Goods and ServicesThere are several exemptions in relation tocosmetic services, insurance, religiousgoods and services, sporting events,privacy, promotion of special interest orgroups, drama and entertainment,adoption/fostering, wills/gifts and specialneeds.

AccomodationThere can be no discrimination on thediscriminatory grounds (subject toexceptions) in relation to disposing of anestate, terminating a tenancy, providing orceasing to provide accommodation, that is

INTRODUCING THE EQUAL STATUS ACT 2000By Eilis Barry

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available to the public (or a section of it).There are exemptions in relation to "smallpremises", and concerninggender/embarassment, accommodation forreligious purposes, refugees, nursing homes,retirement homes, homes for persons withdisabilities and hostels for homeless persons.Local authorities can provide differenttreatment based on family size, family status,marital status, age and membership of theTraveller community.

Educational EstablishmentsAn educational establishment shall notdiscriminate (subject to exceptions) inrelation to admissions, access, terms orconditions, expulsion or other sanctions.There are excemptions in relation to singlesex schools, religious training, the ethos ofthe school, non EU Nationals, scholarships,student exchanges, mature students, sportingfacilities and events, and students withdisabilities.

Registered ClubsPeople who have been discriminated againstby a club (which holds a licence to sellalcohol) can apply to the District Club for adeclaration that the club is a discriminatoryclub. In general a club will be treated to bea discriminatory club if it or by it’smanagement it discriminates or it has rules,policies or practices which discriminate suchas - refusing to admit persons tomembership providing different terms andconditions, terminating membership or othersanctions failing to reasonably accommodatemembers with disabilities (subject to thenominal cost exemption).

There are exemptions if the principalpurpose of a club is to cater only for theneeds of a particular group from within the9 grounds. There are also exemptions, inrelation to the provision of reasonablyequivalent provisions on grounds of age andgender, different types of membership,sporting events and facilities and theelimination of past discrimination. TheDistrict Court may suspend a discriminatingclub’s licence to sell alcohol to its members.

Positive ActionThe Act allows preferential treatment of thetaking of positive measures which areintended to promote equality of opportunity

for disadvantaged persons or measureswhich cater for the special needs of persons.

General ExemptionsNothing in the Act prohibits anythingrequired by statute, or the EU. There isalso a ‘public order’ exemption, and anexemption in relation to preferential fees forpersons with children, married couple,people in a specific age group or personswith a disability. There is also anexemption in relation to medical treatment.

Making a ComplaintAnybody wishing to make a claim ofdiscrimination must notify the person againstwhom the claim is being made in writingwithin two months of the incident or the lastoccurrence. This must identify the nature ofthe claim and the intent to seek redress. Inexceptional circumstances the two monthtime limit may be extended for a further twomonths. (The complainant who wishes toobtain material information must do so inthe written notification).

If there is no reply or if the reply isunsatisfactory the complaint should referredto the Office of the Director of EqualityInvestigations, 3 Clonmel Street, Dublin 2.This must be done within six months of theincident or the last occurrence. Inexceptional circumstances this may beextended for a further six months.

The Office of the Director of EqualityInvestigations can, with the consent of bothparties, appoint a mediation officer or caninvestigate the matter. If there is a findingin favour of the person making a complaintcompensation of up to £5,000 can beordered and a course of action can berequired of the person against whom thecomplaint was made. There is an appeal tothe Circuit Court.

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The decision by Heads of State andGovernment in Amsterdam in 1997 to givethe European Community new powers tocombat discrimination on grounds of sex,racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief,disability, age or sexual orientation was asignificant step forward.* For the first time,it allowed the Community to combatdiscrimination on a range of new grounds.It also enabled the Community to takelegislative action in areas outside the fieldof employment – where the action iswithin the limits of Communitycompetence.

On 25 November 1999, just two monthsafter taking office, the EuropeanCommission adopted a package ofproposals to implement those new powers.The package consisted of aCommunication which sets out thephilosophy behind the proposals (COM(1999) 564 final); a draft directivecombating discrimination in employmentand self-employment (or the professions)on five of the six grounds covered inArticle 13 of the Treaty (sex discrimination)is not included because it has alreadylargely been covered by existing directives)(COM (1999) 565 final); a draft directive tocombat racial discrimination which goesbeyond employment into areas such aseducation, social protection and access togoods and services (COM (1999) 566 final);and a draft action programme to supportthe development of practical action in theMember States to counter discriminationand promote equal treatment (COM (1999)567 final).

Directive on Equal TreatmentIrrespective of Racial or Ethnic OriginThe Council of Ministers reachedagreement on the directive on racediscrimination in record time, only sevenmonths after its publication by theCommission. This is certainly evidence ofthe attachment of European Governmentsto the fight against racism at a time whichhas seen mounting evidence of racistpropaganda, attacks and violence in manyparts of the Community. The directive wasadopted on 29 June 2000. The directivepreserves the principle of equal treatmentbetween persons irrespective of racial orethnic origin. It protects people fromdiscrimination in access to employment,social protection, including social securityand healthcare, social advantages,education, including grants andscholarships, and access to and the supplyof goods and services, including housing.It gives people who believe they havebeen discriminated against the right topursue their claims through anadministrative and/or judicial procedure toenforce their right to equal treatment.

A EUROPEAN CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIGHTAGAINST DISCRIMINATION By Anna Diamantopoulou,EU Social Affairs Commissioner

AnnaDiamantopoulou,Member of theEuropeanCommission forEmployment andSocial Affairs. She isalso a member ofFORUM for thecooperation ofBalkan peoples anda member of theInternationalWomen’s Network.

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Importantly, it also gives associations,organisations or other legal entities theright to engage in any judicial and/oradministrative procedure either on behalfor in support of the complainant. In a keyprovision, the Commission proposes that insuch cases, once prima facie evidence ofdiscrimination has been put forward by acomplainant, the burden of proof shouldshift to the defendant.

The Directive also requires Member Statesto provide for special bodies to promotethe principle of equal treatment, with arange of functions similar to those of theEquality Authority in Ireland.

In all of these areas, the Directive laysdown only a minimum floor of standardsbelow which the Member States may notfall. The Member States remain free tointroduce or maintain higher standards.

Draft Directive to CombatDiscrimination in EmploymentThe second proposal; mirrors the first,though it deals only with discrimination inemployment on grounds of religion orbelief, disability, age, or sexual orientation.As this Directive covers a range of groundsof discrimination, it contains specificprovisions on some points. In the case ofdisability, the Commission proposes thatemployers should make reasonableadjustments to take account of the needsof disabled people. The directive alsoprovides a number of examples ofdifferences of treatment on grounds of agewhich may be objectively justified in somecases and may not be held to bediscriminatory.

This proposal is still under discussion inthe Council. The Commission hopes that itwill be adopted before the end of the year.

Draft Decision on an ActionProgramme to Combat DiscriminationThe third proposal in the Commission’spackage, which is also still underdiscussion in the Council and theEuropean Parliament, is for a six-yearaction programme, beginning in 2001 andwith a budget of just under 100 millioneuro. The programme will tacklediscrimination on five of the six groundslaid down in Article 13 (genderdiscrimination will be dealt withspecifically by a separate programme,though the impact of gender on otherforms of discrimination will also be takeninto account in this programme).

The programme divides its activities intothree strands: assessing the effectiveness ofexisting anti-discrimination policies throughstudies and statistical work; exchanges ofexperience between people in MemberStates who work on discrimination –NGOs, local authorities, research institutesand the like; and disseminating the lessonslearned under the other two strands.

The Commission is currently running aseries of actions to prepare in particular forthe implementation of the exchange strand.A compendium setting out the details ofthe current actions is available from theCommission (contactbirgit.smyth@cec.eu.int for furtherinformation).

* Article 13 of the Treaty establishing theEuropean Community reads: "Withoutprejudice to other provisions of thisTreaty and within the limits of thepowers conferred by it upon theCommunity, the Council, actingunanimously on a proposal from theCommission and after consulting theEuropean Parliament, may takeappropriate action to combatdiscrimination based on sex, racial orethnic origin, religion or belief, disability,age or sexual orientation.

"Despite the existence of EqualOpportunities Policy and Guidelines forover 12 years, women and men are stilllikely to have very different experiencesand outcomes while serving in the civilservice."Gender Equality in the Civil Service, 1999 (p.174)

In 1996, ‘Delivering Better Government’, aprogramme of change for the Irish civilservice expressed concern at theconcentration of women employees in thelower levels of the civil service where theirpotential is under-utilised, and in relationto the under representation of women atmost management levels. It concluded that:"Effective equality policies are…anessential feature of effective humanresource management." (p.47)

It recommended that research is carriedout and strategies are put in place on aservice-wide basis to redress the balance.In this context, it is important to rememberthat 64% of the civil service is female.

The research study merits an article initself, but the key finding is set out above.The differences in experience and outcomemanifest themselves in many ways,including that women:•Progress more slowly through the grade

structure•Are more likely to have to balance caring

and work responsibilities, often rulingout promotion as a result

•Are less likely to be placed in highprofile positions

•Are more likely to be concentrated inoperational areas of work.

Nothing we couldn’t have told you, somereaders might say. However, the value ofthese and many other significant findingsof the research is that it moves the basisfor the discussion from the anecdotal. The

Study has provided us, for the first time,with a set of objective findings to informthe discussion, and with a sound statisticalbaseline on which to benchmark progress.It has also given us a set of recommend-ations to assist in taking the genderequality agenda forward. One furtheroutcome of the research has been toshatter any complacency which may haveexisted that the gender equality issue hadbeen dealt with.

The ‘Visible Bits’ Are RightThe civil service has rightly prided itself onbeing to the forefront as an employer indeveloping and implementing policies toachieve greater equality of opportunity forwomen. This is largely thanks to workdone by the Equality Unit of theDepartment of Finance, the Equality sub-committee of General Council* andindividual Departments. Ahead of manyemployers, it had a written EqualOpportunities policy, flexible workingarrangements and a written sexualharassment policy. It also took great carewith recruitment and promotion processes.The language of its forms and circulars isgender neutral and female representationon interview boards is effectively thenorm.

With these visible bits in place, a certaincomplacency in my view had entered thesystem. Looking at outcomes however,gives no cause for such complacency. Twospecific finding give particular cause forconcern:

Given the slow rate of progress to date, abalanced representation of women in thehigher grades of the civil service is unlikelyto be achieved within the working lives ofmost of those currently working there;

Between 1987 and 1997, the representationof women in the Assistant Principal (AP)

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GENDER EQUALITY IN THE CIVIL SERVICE By Josephine Feehily

grade increased by only one percentagepoint – from 23% to 24% and based onexisting trends can be predicted to increaseto only 25% by 2007.

Unless the imbalance at AP level isunblocked, there can be little expectationof improvement for women in the highergrades.

We Have To Do BetterThe challenge now is to devise strategieswhich have the potential to make adifference. To this end the Governmenthas already endorsed proposals for a newstrategic approach to equality, rooted inthe programme of Human Resourcesreform already underway for the civilservice. This included:

•The adoption of Guiding Principles•A new Gender Equality Policy•Affirmative action in the areas of

recruitment, placement and mobility,training and development, promotion,work and family, language, sexualharassment and policy delivery

•Placing responsibility and accountabilityfor progress firmly in Departments whichwas a failure of the previous policy

•Strategic objective with specific time-bound equality goals for increasedfemale representation in grades wherewomen are under-represented.

The Guiding PrinciplesInequality is not only unjustifiable in socialterms but is wasteful of the main asset ofthe civil service: its human resources, itspeople.

Equality of opportunity is a key issue,directly or indirectly affecting all aspects ofthe working lives of women and men. It isnot a minority issue.

In consequence, equality of opportunityshould be integrated within the mainstreamof departmental and service-wide HumanResources policies.

Making It HappenChanges have already been implemented.Resources have been provided to supportpolicy delivery. A new bullying andharassment policy has recently beenfinalised. The Government has asked theSMI Implementation Group which includesall Secretaries General to make equality acore part of their overall changeprogramme for Human ResourceManagement and to report regularly toGovernment on progress. It has alsodecided that each Department should setclear equality targets in its next round ofStrategy Statements, and should reportprogress in its Annual Report under thePublic Service Management Act.

Most significantly, the Taoiseach hasannounced that Government has set atarget of one-third of posts at AssistantPrincipal level across the civil service willbe filled by women within five years.

Going Forward in PartnershipThe management response to the researchon gender equality was outlined recently ata seminar for Union officials and membersof departmental partnership committees.

A new policy, supported by guidance onits implementation, has been prepared anddiscussions, with a view to its adoption,will commence with the Civil ServiceUnions in the Autumn.

(continued on page 12).

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Josephine Feehily is a RevenueCommissioner. She chaired the committeewhich commissioned the research andnow chairs the civil service GenderEquality Management Group.

EU BRIEFING5TH PROGRAMME ON GENDEREQUALITY LAUNCHED BY COMMISSION

By Brian Harvey

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On 7th June, the European Commissionadopted the 5th gender action programme,‘Equal Opportunities Between Men AndWomen’. A draft of the €50m programmewas first circulated last January andcomments had been invited from non-governmental organizations and interestedparties by the end of April.

These action plans date back twenty years(the 1st gender action programme wasfrom 1982-5). Actions plans provide abroad policy framework, summarizeprogress to date and outline a broad rangeof future actions, accompanied by afunding package.

The programme will, says Social AffairsCommissioner Diamantopoulou, work toremedy important gender gaps in Europe,build on the rights enunciated by theTreaty of Amsterdam and mainstreamgender in all Community policies. Itsoverall aim:

“Under the new approach, all Commissionservices will be invited to identify theiractivities to promote gender equalityincluding mainstreaming policies and orconcrete actions targeted to women(specific actions). The new programme willbe the umbrella for all Community policiesthat can make a contribution to the goal ofachieving gender equality (be it education,employment, research or structuralpolicies).”

The programme will be supported by anew budget line, B3-4012 and shouldprovide up to €10m in funding forwomen’s networks, organizations andprojects each year in the course of 2001-6.The new programme will have the overallgoal of ‘bringing about the structuralchange required for achieving gender

Looking ahead, the challenge will be toensure that this policy means more thananother piece. Monitoring andaccountability will be critical

Further ahead again, vigilance will benecessary so that targets do not becomeceilings - but that’s another day’s work.

The first edition of Equality News depicteda clearly frustrated woman civil servantleaning on a truncated ladder while hermale colleague smilingly looked upwardstowards the top of a much longer ladder.The message now is that both ladders arethe same length. For now, women areunder-represented on the higher rungs, butthey should be confident in aiming for thehighest rung. Strategies are beingdeveloped to ensure that the civil serviceenvironment encourages those aims.

"The promotion of equalitypolicies…confers benefits on theorganisation. It increases productivity… Itimproves the quality of decision making…It helps retain the best people by takingtheir needs into account and allowsflexible working arrangements which meetbusiness and staff needs. Overall it resultsin increased job satisfaction and highermorale." Delivering Better Government, p.47

*General Council is the industrial relations councilfor the civil service.

The research study ‘Gender Equality in the CivilService’ was carried out by Peter Humphreys,Eileen Drew and Candy Murphy. It is published bythe IPA. An executive summary is available on theDepartment of Finance website -www.irlgov.ie/finance.

equality in practice’. There will be sevenstrategic objectives (panel). These breaksome new ground and are described inmore detail:

Equality in economic lifeThe fairer distribution of economicresources between women and men, theharnessing of women’s qualifications andcontributions to economic life (e.g.employment, business, industry, science,enterprise, management, information andcommunications technology, research).

Equal participation and representationBalanced participation of men and womenin decision-making, both quantitative andqualitative, with women equally present incommittees, governments, parliamentaryassemblies, managerial posts, trade unions,public and private bodies, universities,judiciary.

Equality in social lifeThe more equal distribution of rights andresponsibilities between men and women inworking time, leisure, familyresponsibilities, paid and unpaid work,care, access to goods and services, housing,transport, health and social protection.

Changing gender roles and stereotypesEliminating persisting prejudices and socialstereotyping by changing behaviour,attitudes, norms, values which define andinfluence gender roles in society througheducation, the media, arts, culture andscience.

Equality in civil lifeThe strengthening and development of lawenforcement mechanisms for the exercise offundamental civil and human rights bywomen, with better awareness and trainingof the legal profession in equality law.

These objectives will be achieved by acombination of legislation,recommendations, funding, projects, thesetting of targets, the monitoring of results,impact assessments, research, analysis andinstitutional change - at European andnational level. The opinion of theEuropean institutions will be sought on theprogramme in the autumn, with adoptionby the Council of Ministers in December2000 or early 2001.

Without waiting for formal approval of theplan, the Commission has already takenfresh initiatives to improve the situation ofwomen. In June, the Commissionapproved a new draft directive on sexualharassment which will ban sexualharassment at work; establish a legal onuson employers to provide a workplace freeof sexual harassment, update the 1976directive on equal opportunities and tidy upolder equality legislation to bring it in linewith European Court of Justice judgements.Finally, in an effort to put its own house inorder, the Commission decided the samemonth that all its committees should includenot less than 40% women and not less than40% men.

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The Seven Key Objectives1) Equality in economic life2) Equal participation and representation3) Equality in social life4) Changing gender roles and stereotypes5) Equality in civil life6) The promotion of gender equality in

development7) The promotion of gender equality in

the accession process (eastern andcentral Europe)

Sometimes I feel managing the EqualOpportunities Commission is like doing aRubik’s Cube – moving sets of prioritiesaround their axis and around each other.Unlike playing with a Rubik’s Cube,however, I’m not trying to create a set ofmonochrome planes – life at the EOC is farmore complex than that.

Although the Equal OpportunitiesCommission is at a time of change, ourcommitment to equality for women andmen, and to a vision of society in whichboth can make choices for themselvesabout the way they want to live their livesunfettered by assumptions about gender,remains solid.

The changes we are undergoing take intoaccount the great themes of our times:devolution, Europe and Human Rights.They also reflect debates about creating ajoined-up Commission, discussion abouthow to end age discrimination and theneed to promote equality for all –whatever their gender or sexualorientation. Updating our service provision,embracing e-communication, implementingthe modernising government agenda,becoming even more accountable andtransparent as a ‘beacon’ NDPB.

To achieve our vision we need yet morechange. The legislative framework iscreaking – and the EOC itself needs todevelop new ways of working. We facethe challenge of becoming a modernisedorganisation whilst still holding on to ourpast expertise. We need to gain new allieswhilst keeping our old friends – and staff –on board. We need to be both joined-upand devolved, independent andaccountable, and ready to take onappropriate new legislative responsibilitiesshould they come about. We need to beflexible and confident enough to take onwhatever challenges we face.

We’ve summarised this mission aschampioning equality, challengingdiscrimination, and acting as a catalyst forchange. The EOC has always beencommitted to these approaches, but wehave not always been successful incommunicating our messages. We’ve beenknowledge rich and communication poor.

So, having refocused our vision andmission, we must now prioritise ourmessages and invest in our communicationcapacity. We have settled on six prioritythemes, bringing a sharper focus to ouractivities and enabling us to articulate keymessages. The themes now underpin ourplanning processes and create a frameworkfor a more integrated managementapproach.

The themes are equal pay, sexstereotyping, work/life balance,mainstreaming equality, improving thegender balance in political and public lifeand revisiting the legal framework toensure that it reflects a modernised view ofequality. We want an integrated approachto these themes so that they have animpact on everything they do, whether it isadvice and information work, pressing forlegislative amendments, or developingweb-based debate.

Some of these themes offer greatopportunities for joint working with theother Commissions. We are, for example,collaborating with the Commission forRacial Equality and the Disabled RightsCommission to ensure that when theframework for the new duty on publicbodies to promote racial equality isextended to gender and disability it will beconsistent and effective.

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NORTH SOUTH EAST WESTBy Lynne Berry, Chief Executive,Equal Opportunities Commission (Great Britain)

One theme is very much our own – andthrough it we are developing newpartnerships. In October last year, welaunched our ‘Valuing Women’ Campaignto raise awareness of the 20% difference inwomen and men’s average wages and toengage employers, politicians and thepublic in finding ways of reducing the gap.We launched our first ever advertisingcampaign with the strap line: "Prepare yourdaughter for working life; pay her lesspocket money than your son." We alsolaunched the Equal Pay Task Force. TheTask Force is independent of the EOC sothat employers could talk about difficultiesin delivering equal pay without the fear ofopening themselves to challenge from theEOC’s legal team!

We have decided that part of our strategyfor achieving the EOC’s vision is to workharder at winning hearts and minds as wellas the argument. And that meansconcentrating much more on the externalimpact of our work in future by investingin communication. Until recently we havehad an underfunded communicationcapacity and an unfocussedcommunication strategy. Now, however,we are making great strides in the use ofelectronic media – our website is brimmingwith information, news and consultationdocuments. We’re also building up ourGovernment Affairs, Campaigning andPress and PR capacity.

However, all this emphasis on getting itright outside will fail if we do not get itright inside. Our internal communicationcapacity is also being improved throughour intranet and by learning from others intheir internal communications world. Butwe need to do more than that. Each of usat the EOC must include within ourobjectives the need to communicateexternally and internally. However expertwe are, however knowledgeable, if no oneelse knows about our work we will fail tomake a difference.

In addition to all these challenges, the EOCis also feeling its way through two contrarydemands – we need to be more joined up(with the other Commissions) and moredevolved (particularly in Wales andScotland). With several democraticinstitutions in place, each with its ownpolitical balance, it’s hard to developpolicies for Great Britain as a whole.However, we are a GB body and we mustdo so whilst at the same time recognisingthe diverging priorities of the WelshAssembly and Scottish Parliament. Again,our theme teams give us an opportunity todevelop an inclusive agenda that can beintegrated in different ways.

These really are exciting times. I do feelthat the opportunities for promoting apositive equality agenda are greater nowthan for many years past. However greatthe tensions we have to resolve, howevermuch we have to juggle the demands onus and twist and turn to balance ourpriorities, the prize is a more equal society.And that is a game worth playing!

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The National Economic and Social Forumheld a Plenary session on the 18th May2000 in Dublin Castle. The theme for thisplenary session was equality issues and itsmain purpose was to build on the Forum’sprevious work in relation to the setting ofequality objectives and equality proofing.

The morning session includedpresentations by three keynote speakers.

Sylda Langford Assistant Secretary, Department of Justice,Equality and Law Reform.Sylda Langford reported on the broaderpicture of the current equality policies andstrategies put in place by the Departmentof Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Thefocus has been on establishing the equalityinfrastructure and putting in place a broadranging rights based legislation anddeveloping specific initiatives. Ireland hasundergone huge changes in the pastdecade - it has become a modern,culturally diverse society. "This means thatwe have challenges to face in terms ofbreaking down barriers and stereotypesand granting everybody equal rights toparticipate fully in Ireland’s development".

The adoption of equal opportunitiesbetween women and men as a horizontalprinciple of the National Development Plan(NDP) marks a major development in theGovernments strategy on gender equality.In accordance with commitments in thePlan a gender perspective will beincorporated across all six operationalprogrammes. The Plan provides thatproject selection criteria must have regardto the equal opportunities objective andthat statistical measurements under thePlan will be gender differentiated. Genderbalance on Monitoring Committees is alsoan objective. The Department of Justice,Equality and Law Reform has beenassigned a lead role in overseeing theimplementation of these equal

opportunities commitments through theestablishment of an Equal OpportunitiesPromotion and Monitoring Unit andchairing of the Equal Opportunities andSocial Inclusion Co-ordinating Committee.In addition a Technical Assistance EqualityUnit will be developed under the NDP andlocated in the Equality Authority to supportequality outcomes under the Employmentand Human Resources DevelopmentOperational Programme for groups likelyto experience discrimination in the labourmarket in particular people withdisabilities, Travellers and refugees.Furthermore, £23.2 million will beprovided for positive action targeted atwomen in support of the equalopportunities objective. The Plan providesthat positive action should relate to labourmarket measures to tackle vertical andhorizontal segregation and for thedevelopment of family friendly initiatives.Moreover the Department has now beenallocated £250 million under the NDP forthe development of a childcareinfrastructure in Ireland.

Niall Crowley CEO of the Equality Authority (EA)Niall Crowley described six key constituentparts to a strategic framework for action onequality.

1) Establishment of rights in legislation arethe bedrock in terms of affirmingdiversity, ensuring discrimination isprohibited and most importantlyasserting rights to realising equality.

2) Institutions dedicated to driving forwardthese rights - the EA, Human RightsCommission, Dept. of Justice, Equalityand Law Reform and the Office ofDirector of Equality Investigations.

3) Targeting resources contributesignificantly to addressing a past historyof discrimination and meeting theaspirations and needs specific toparticular groups.

NESF FORUM PLENARY SESSION

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4) Mainstreaming equality requiresmobilising all policy, provision andpractice to contribute to equalityoutcomes. It is about including peopleand securing benefits for people inmainstream provision and enablingthose who experience inequality toparticipate in decision making.

5) Participation by organisationsarticulating the interests of thoseexperiencing inequality is central interms of providing a basis for theexpression and accommodation ofdiversity.

6) The need to develop specific agendasand mechanisms for their development.For example, the Second Commissionon the Status of Women, the Task Forceon the Traveller Community and theCommission on the Status of Peoplewith Disabilities were key initiatives inbuilding a consensus behind change, innegotiating new norms into policy,practice and provision.

Christopher McCrudden Professor of Human Rights Law, OxfordUniversityProfessor McCrudden identified four issuesrelevant to the equality debate in the Irishcontext.

1) Participation. Participation of thoseaffected by a policy means that thedecision-maker is better informed of

relevant factors that should be takeninto account. Moreover, participationleads to consensus building. Mostimportantly though, is achievingparticipation as a right.

2) Citizenship. In dealing with equalityissues in the context of race andethnicity and in the context ofimmigrants and asylum-seekers,according rights on the basis ofcitizenship may well exacerbate theproblem of discrimination rather thancounteract it.

3) Rights. Equality requires a foundationalbase of legally enforceable rights.

4) Vision of Equality. Ireland should bemoving to a situation of social inclusion,the significance of equality of outcomeand the participation of disadvantagedgroups in the process. The challenge isto reduce inequality of opportunity,reduce inequality of resources andreduce inequality of respect and dignity.

Professor McCrudden made reference toother complementary provisions that arerequired as legislative equality provisionsalone will not suffice. Economic leveragecan prove to be a useful tool to achieveequality goals - it is not unreasonable toexpect that public contracts and grantsshould go to those who further such abasic policy aim as equality."Mainstreaming goes several steps furtherby requiring that government and publicbodies should attempt to weave policies ofequality and non discrimination into thefabric of government across all spheres ofgovernment."

Workshops were held exploring equality inthe workplace, in policy making and inservice provision. It is envisaged that aForum Opinion will be prepared forGovernment on the basis of the debate ofthe Plenary session.

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Professor ChristopherMcCrudden and SyldaLangford

On July 25th, 2000 the Equality Authorityhosted the launch of the joint initiativebetween IBEC, Congress, the ConstructionIndustry Federation (CIF) and the EqualityAuthority to address the issue of racism inthe workplace. A group of more thaneighty guests was welcomed by the Chairof the Equality Authority, Kate Hayes.

In her welcoming address Kate Hayesstated “Racism is not a new phenomenonin Irish society. The experience of theBlack Irish community, the Travellercommunity and other minority ethnicgroups demonstrates that racism has beena part of Irish society for generations.However it is clear that racism has gainedan increased visibility in recent times. Thechallenge is urgently posed to all sectors ofsociety to address racism.”

The initiative incorporates the following:

• The nomination of an Anti-RacistWorkplace Week from the 6th-10thNovember 2000

• The development of a newIBEC/Congress/CIF policy statement onracism

• The publication by the EqualityAuthority of a Resource Pack on the Anti-Racist Workplace to be launched duringthe Anti-Racist Workplace Week

In her statement on the joint initiative Ms.Inez McCormack, President of Congress,said that Congress saw the initiative in thecontext of “Ensuring that workplacesthemselves are non-discriminatory in thetreatment of all workers and also as anopportunity to use the workplace as aplace of information, education and

positive action towards diversity andinterculturalism in the workplace, in localcommunities and in society generally.”

Brendan Butler, Director of IBECwelcomed the joint initiative as an"Invaluable opportunity to promote anti-racism in the workplace.” IBEC made acommitment to work hand in hand with itsmembers to initiate actions to combatracism and celebrate cultural diversity inthe workplace.

Niall Crowley, CEO of the EqualityAuthority stressed the value of the "Widerculture of rights that is now beingembedded in our society,” as a keyresponse to racism. “Employment Equalitylegislation has been enacted and the EqualStatus Act is expected in October. Bothcover grounds of race and membership ofthe Traveller community. Thus strong anti-racist legislation is now in place.”

During the Anti-Racist Workplace Week(6th-10th November) there will be activitiesand events at organisational, local andregional levels. Events at national levelinclude the launch of the Resource Packand a seminar with the Chairperson of theCommission for Racial Equality in England,Gurbux Singh.

For further information please contactLisa Fingleton, Equality Authority at(01) 417 3362

JOINT INITIATIVE Anti Racist Workplace

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From left to right: Peter Cassells, Kate Hayes,Turlough O’Sullivan, Niall Crowley, InezMcCormack and Brendan Butler at the launch ofAnti-Racist Workplace Initiative

In August 1998 the Department ofEnvironment and Local Governmentrequested that each local authority put anEquality Action Programme in place. (SeeEquality News Number 15 – Autumn 1998).This Equality Action Programme proposedthe nomination of an Equality Officer andthe formation of an Equality Action Teamin each local authority.

Since that time much progress has beenmade in advancing the equality agenda inthe local authorities in relation to all of thegrounds covered under the new EqualityLegislation.

An Equality Officer has been appointed ineach local authority and an equality actionteam, comprised of management, staff andtrade union representatives, is now inplace. Designated Contact Persons, whoprovide advice, guidance and assistance onharassment issues, have also beennominated in most local authorities.

Equality Officers NetworkA network of Equality Officers wasestablished in November 1998, under theauspices of the Local GovernmentManagement Services Board. The purposeof the network is to facilitate theadvancement of best practice and assist inthe uniform development of EqualityProgrammes throughout the local authoritysystem. The network meets on a regularbasis both nationally and regionally andthe Board has also facilitated a number ofinitiatives viz:

* the development of equal opportunities,sexual harassment andbullying/harassment policies in the lightof the Employment Equality Act, 1998;

* preparation of guidelines in respect ofthe Parental Leave Act, 1998 and theEmployment Equality Act, 1998;

* guest speakers to address the networke.g. representatives from the Equality Authority, Industrial Society,National Rehabilitation Board andDepartment of Justice, Equality and LawReform;

• arrangement, on a regional basis, offacilitation skills training for EqualityOfficers, and investigators’ training inrelation to bullying, harassment andsexual harassment. There is now a panelof trained investigators availablethroughout the local authority system;

• the organisation of regional equalityawareness seminars by individual localauthorities;

• a visit by the network to the EqualityAuthority with an address by the ChiefExecutive;

• the organisation of a local authoritiesnational equality seminar in May 2000covering the impact of the EmploymentEquality Act, 1998, the role of theDirector of Equality Investigations andthe handling and investigating of sexualharassment and bullying incidents.

The emphasis within each local authorityhas been on developing and implementingEqual Opportunities, Sexual Harassment

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EQUALITY IN THE LOCAL AUTHORITIESby Declan Naughton

Declan NaughtonHuman ResourceOfficer,Local GovernmentManagement ServicesBoard

and Bullying policies and in implementingthe Department of Environment and LocalGovernment’s Code on Disability. EqualityOfficers and Members of Equality ActionTeams have been actively involved inidentifying projects and setting targets inrelation to equality matters.

TrainingThe network has identified training asessential in order to progress the equalityagenda further in the local authorities andtraining has taken place for EqualityOfficers, Members of Equality ActionTeams and Designated Contact Persons. A training pack is currently beingdeveloped by the network to enableEquality Officers to raise awareness ofequality issues generally amongstmanagement and staff within the localauthorities.

Equality AuditThe Local Government ManagementServices Board is currently preparing aguideline questionnaire to enable eachlocal authority to carry out an equalityaudit. The purpose of the audit is toestablish the attitude of staff to equalityand organisational issues and, from this, toidentify equality initiatives that arerequired.

Recruitment GuidelinesA sub-committee of the Local GovernmentManagement Services Board was set up toreview recruitment procedures in the localauthorities in the light of the Freedom ofInformation and Employment EqualityLegislation. This committee’s reportexamines all aspects of the recruitmentprocess and makes a number ofrecommendations inter alia:

* a competency-based approach torecruiting staff;

* a revised application form, referencerequest form and medical form in thelight of the new legislative requirements,with advice on the composition andconduct of interview panels;

* an outline for job specifications,skills/competencies, marking schemesand marking guidelines for over thirtygrades in the local authorities.

The report also provides an advice manualfor members of interview boards.

The Board has also arranged training tofurther develop interviewing techniques forlocal authority personnel and to increasethe supply of trained interviewers tofacilitate a greater gender balance on allpanels.

Conclusion While considerable progress has beenmade to date, there is still much work tobe done in raising equality awareness inthe local authorities. The role of EqualityOfficers and members of Equality ActionTeams in the coming months is to highlightthe organisational benefits of managingdiversity. The message from the EqualityAction Teams is that equality awarenessbenefits the organisation and the staffmember alike.

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A United Nations Special Session was heldin New York between the 5th and 9th ofJune this year, to review the implementationof the Beijing Platform for Action.

This Platform for Action (PFA) emanatedfrom the U.N. Fourth World Conference onWomen held in Beijing, China inSeptember 1995 with the ideal ofpromoting and protecting human rightsand the fundamental freedoms of allwomen. While the PFA is primarily anagenda for women’s empowerment, it alsoseeks to establish the principle of sharedpower and responsibility between men andwomen in the home, at work and atnational and international level. It alsolooked at twelve particular areas of interestrelating to Poverty, Education and Training,Health, Violence, Armed Conflict,Economy, Decision-making, InstitutionalMechanisms, Human Rights, Media,Environment and the Girl Child.

During the course of the U.N. SpecialSession, a plenary session was held inwhich representatives includinggovernment representatives, vice-presidents, ministers, secretaries of state,outlined their governments commitment toimplementating the PFA.

Working Groups and Contact Groups werealso held on specific key issues whileseveral panels/discussion groups were heldon various topics including: sexual rights,right to bodily integrity, reproductive rightsand sexual orientation rights.

The Office of the Special Adviser onGender Issues and Advancement ofWomen organised a panel/discussiongroup on the topic of sexual harassment.The Discussion group looked in particularat the evolution of legislation against

sexual harassment and its implementation,perception and reality, remedies andsolutions, how to stop stereotypes, theimpact of sexual harassment on economicand social development, governmentobligations and best practices.

The U.N. document on Outcomes from theSpecial Session deals with further actionsand initiatives to implement the PFA. Thesignificant areas of concern relate to theFamily, Work and Family Responsibilities,Targets and Quotas, Immigration andAsylum, Violence, Reproduction,Mainstreaming, Institutions, and Work.

Under the heading of Family, the U.N.document on Outcomes states that in orderto achieve full partnership, both in thepublic and private spheres, both womenand men must be enabled to reconcile andshare equally work and familyresponsibilities. It also recognises that thefamily is the basic unit of society and is astrong force for social cohesion andintegration and as such it should bestrengthened. The Outcomes documentlooks at the area of Work and FamilyResponsibilities and seeks to address whatgovernments can do to promoteprogrammes to enable women and men toreconcile their work and familyresponsibilities, and to encourage thesharing of household and childcareresponsibilities. It also seeks to promotefamily friendly policies and services,including affordable, accessible and qualitycore services for children, parental andother leave schemes along with campaignsto inform public opinion.

Targets and Quotas are addressed in thedocument, and governments are asked toencourage the use of explicit short andlong-term time targets or measurable goals,

WOMEN 2000: GENDER EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT ANDPEACE FOR THE 21ST CENTURYUnited Nations Special Session by Barbara Cashen

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including quotas for the promotion ofgender balance. It includes women’s equalaccess and full participation on a basis ofequality with men in all areas of publiclife. There is particular emphasis ondecision and policy-making positions inpolitical parties and political activities, inall government ministries and at keypolicy-making institutions, as well as inlocal development bodies and authorities.

With regard to the issue of Immigrationand Asylum, the Outcomes documentfocuses on governments’ mainstreaming agender perspective into nationalimmigration and asylum policies,regulations and practices, as appropriate,in order to promote and protect the rightsof all women and to recognise gender-related persecution and violence whenassessing grounds for granting refugeestatus and asylum. Violence and theintroduction of effective legislation,Reproductive Health, Mainstreaming agender perspective into key macroeconomic and social development policiesare further key issues to be addressed inthe forthcoming document.

Finally the Outcomes document will focuson the area of Work, and the developmentof policies and programmes to enhance theemployability of women and their accessto quality jobs; to bring about a balancedrepresentation of women and men in allsectors of the labour market by encouragingthe creation of institutional networks tosupport the career development andpromotion of women.

The 1995 Task Force report on theTraveller community stated:

The Traveller community in Ireland todayis experiencing high levels of socialexclusion and disadvantage. This requiresan urgent and planned response.

We are now five years on. It’s onlyenvisaged that equal status legislation willbe signed into law this autumn of the year2000. It’s very questionable how relevantthe government and its departments haveviewed the urgency of this statement. Sincethe launch of the Task Force report muchhope and expectations have been createdfor the delivery of equal status legislation.

What equality?I believe that equality can only become areality for Travellers in Ireland when Irishsociety acknowledges that our experiencesas Travellers are valid experiences ofracism. The day to day lives of Travellershave been affected through a wide rangeof issues, issues such discrimination inalmost very aspect of our lives. From birthto death Travellers have been treated likesecond class citizens. These attitudestowards not just a section of a community,but a whole community of people fromthe highest level of power has manifesteditself in a number of ways:

•Third world living conditions• Infant and adult mortality rates twice that

of their settled counterparts•Poor educational opportunity, and in

some cases segregation, was thesystematic approach to the Traveller childwithin the Irish education system.

•Direct and indirect discrimination that hasled to the social exclusion of theTraveller community within Irish society.

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VIEWPOINT Chrissie O’Sullivan

While I believe it’s a great time of change,hope and optimism it is fundamental tothis change that this chapter of our historybe recorded accurately which will not justexplain our experience as mistaken.Governments of the past planned,developed and implemented the policies ofassimilation and absorption. When theseapproaches failed they then proceededwith policies of segregation. While muchwork has been done to change thesepractices, I believe it’s important toacknowledge the difficulties of the pastwhile developing new initiatives which willsee a more equal society of whichTravellers will be a part.

Hopes and fears of Equal StatusLegislation This piece of legislation is long awaited.Many Travellers can’t wait for the daywhen they can challenge the discriminatoryway Travellers are refused access to a widerange of goods and services. I would liketo draw attention to the fact that theseservices are not always social outlets i.e.pubs or disco. Travellers have beenrefused equal service in, to mention but afew: schools, hospitals, social welfareoffices, shops. This myth that Travellers areonly refused in social outlets needs to behighlighted. This legislation is not justabout Travellers and the Vintners’Federation. This legislation will coverequality of access to wide range of goodsand services which affect many areas ofTravellers’ lives

For the first time as a Traveller I will feel Ihave recourse to law. Twice before I wasinvolved in trying to take a case aboutbeing refused service. Both times I failedbut I believe that was more of a reflectionof just how weak the current legislation isas opposed to the facts of the cases.However it didn’t feel like that at the time.I hope this legislation will give people,both Travellers and settled alike, theconfidence to bring test cases of this newlegislation which will in effect change howpeople act towards Travellers in theirdelivery of services or goods. It would beunrealistic of me as a Traveller to believethat the equal status legislation will changeall the issues of social exclusion or socialinjustice we face as a community. HoweverI hope that this new legislation will draw aline in the sand whereby people who arein a position of power realise it is nolonger acceptable to treat Travellers likesecond class citizens, or treat any group ofpeople the way we’ve being treated.

This is a very exciting time for Travellersand Traveller organisations. A lot of workhas gone into lobbying for this legislation.Something tells me that the real work isjust about to begin for Travellers andTraveller organisations. It’s not going to beeasy to bring about a change in attitudestowards Travellers. Sometimes verynegative attitudes have been developedover a very long time. The challenge for usnow is to take cases and if we fail we tryand try again until we are successful. It’sonly then we can talk about real equalityfor Travellers.

Chrissie O’Sullivan

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Chrissie O’Sullivan,Project Co-ordinator ofTraveller VisibilityGroup, Cork.

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In late February/early March, the EqualityAuthority’s IT Unit prepared and hosted atender competition for the website designand development work. Assessing the tentenders received, the contract was awardedto Creative Online Communications andthe website was up and running by 13thJuly. The website was formally launchedon 17th July 2000 with a mailshot ofspecially designed postcards featuring thenew home page.

In its first week the website received closeto 2,000 hits, and has been visited a totalof 12,500 times to date (an average ofnearly 1,100 hits per week!). Visitors havelogged on from over 50 different countries,some as far afield as Singapore, Ukraineand South Africa.

www.equality.ieWebsite features:About Us - Introduction to the EqualityAuthority and its main functionsGrounds - An explanation of the ninegrounds of discriminationDiscrimination - The definition ofdiscrimination as laid down in the Employment Equality Act 1998. Guidance

for those who feel they are beingdiscriminated againstMission - Mission statement in keepingwith the Strategic Management Initiative(SMI).Meet The Board - Board Members of theEquality Authority.Services - Breakdown of the EqualityAuthority organisation by section and thefunctions and roles of each section.Publications - Downloadable list of ourpublications to date. Translations – Translated downloadablelist of the publications to date.Contact Us - All contact details and anonline enquiry form.Guest Book – Voluntary sign-in book andcomment/suggestion facility. Links - Links to sites which may be offurther interest to visitors to the EqualityAuthority website. Search - Search facility by word.

UPCOMING EVENTS& DIARY DATES

SPREADING A GLOBAL MESSAGE Equality Authority launches it’s new website

6th - 10th November: Anti-Racist Workplace Week- Joint initiative between IBEC, Congress and theEquality Authority (see pg. 18 for information).

16th November: ‘After Technology, The NextRevolution?’ A Human Resources conferencehosted by IBEC.

November / December: Launch of the AgeAdvisory Report (date to be confirmed).

9th - 10th December: Human Rights Conference,Dublin Castle.For further information contact John Rowan at theDepartment of Foreign Affairs on (01) 478 0822

October - December 2000

20th October: Aontas Millennium Conference - Celebrating Difference:Gender Equality and Lifelong Learning.For further information contact:Jacinta Cuthbert. Email: mail@aontas.com

26th October: Employment Law - One day programme hosted by IBEC.For further information contact IBEC at (01) 660 1011.