Labour Backs Bill to End Socioeconomic Discrimination

The Labour Party has called on government to support and progress the Equality (Misc Provisions) Bill 2021 which would amend Ireland’s equality legislation to ban discrimination on socio-economic grounds.

Deputy Bacik said:

“Unfortunately, we know that class-based discrimination is embedded in Irish society. With economic inequality increasing across the world and in Ireland, the time to legislate for this is now. The Labour Party is in full support of this Bill put forward by Deputy Violet Anne Wynne to address discrimination on the basis of socioeconomic background.

“I have been proud to work with many people and communities who have advocated for some time on the need to update our existing equality laws to make Ireland a fairer society.

“Last December, the Gender Equality Committee published our report into gender inequality in society, and throughout our work and our hearings, the challenges faced by women from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities were raised with us – equality issues must be addressed in an intersectional way.

"Ireland must do more to give everyone a fair opportunity, and amending the equality legislation to include socio-economic class would lead to fairer outcomes in terms of accessing work, housing, childcare and education, among other things.

“Attitudinal barriers remain throughout society when it comes to socioeconomic class. As legislators, we need to do more to ensure that discrimination of any type has no place in Irish society.”