Abstract:
The Employment Equality Act, 1998, came into force in Ireland on 18 October 1999,
following a prolonged period of preparation necessary to establish the new equality
enforcement mechanisms and bodies prescribed by the Act. The Act effectively replicates
much of the previous legislation repealed by it, but also implements enormous changes in
Irish law. It introduces an entire new range of prohibited grounds for discrimination, a new
court structure and explicit measures on sexual and other forms of harassment, and it is on
these features that this note will concentrate. Unfortunately, the Act is structurally
cumbersome, and there is reason to fear that the impact of some reformatory provisions will
be vitiated by exclusions and qualifications.
