§ Lord Kilclooneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made by the Irish Government in introducing equal status legislation, as required by the Belfast Agreement. [HL6342]
§ Lord Williams of Mostyn:Under the Good Friday Agreement, Strand III—Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity—there is a commitment: by the Irish Government to introduce equal status legislation. This commitment was met by the implementation of the Equal Status Act 2000 which came into operation from 25 October 2000 in the Republic of Ireland.
The Equal Status Act prohibits direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, colour, nationality, national or ethnic origin and membership of the Travelling community. Victimisation where an individual is treated less favourably as a result of having participated in processes under the legislation is also prohibited by the measure. The Act outlaws discrimination in all services that are generally available to the public, whether provided by the state or the private sector.