The Council Regulation of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions for the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund require Member States to take steps to prevent discrimination on the basis of the grounds of gender, race, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation. It stipulates that accessibility for disabled persons shall be one of the criteria to be observed in defining operations co-financed by the Funds and to be taken into account during the various stages of implementation. The Community Strategic Guidelines further define the prevention of discrimination on the basis of gender, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation as basic principles of cohesion policy and require that these broad equality grounds be incorporated into all levels of the strategic approach to cohesion.
The Equality Authority is an independent body set up under the Employment Equality Act 1998 with an expanded role in relation to the Employment Equality Act, 2004 and the Equal Status Acts, 2000 to 2004. These Acts outlaw discrimination in employment, vocational training, education, advertising, collective agreements, accommodation, the provision of goods and services and other opportunities to which the public generally have access on nine distinct grounds: Gender, Marital Status, Family Status, Age, Disability, Race, Sexual Orientation, Religious Belief and Membership of the Traveller Community. Progress has been made in pursuing the equality agenda in Ireland. However, inequality continues to persist across all 9 grounds, all areas of service provision and also access to and achievements in the workplace. Inequality is also strongly linked to exclusion, as groups that tend to be subject to inequality also tend to be socially excluded, and have higher levels of deprivation.
The Managing Authority will take appropriate steps to prevent discrimination in relation to the following categories which are protected by equality legislation: Gender, Marital Status, Family Status, Age, Disability, Race, Sexual Orientation, Religious Belief and Membership of the Traveller Community. Intermediary bodies may use positive action, as appropriate, to achieve full equality in practise for these categories in the activity funded under the Programme. In addition, the project selection criteria will ensure as appropriate, that the projects will be assessed on the basis of their compliance with equal opportunity requirements and their promotion of gender equality. Intermediary bodies will be required to incorporate accessibility for disabled persons as a criterion to be observed in co-funded public facilities. This is to be included in project specifications, as appropriate. The Equality Authority, which has a statutory responsibility to promote equality, is available to offer support to intermediary bodies in assessing the impact of their measures on the nine equality grounds and incorporating an equality dimension, as appropriate, in project design and delivery.
