Equality Issues
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-07
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Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central

I again thank Senator Andrews for raising the matter. To be fair, I do not have a timeline for him in terms of the Government's amending legislation. It is important that the issue is examined thoroughly. I am not saying this to kick the can down further because there are potential costs. There is also a proposed wording. As I said in my reply, there must be no unintended consequence and clarity and certainty need to be given. It is also important to recognise the Government is considering recommendations of the report based on the pre-legislative scrutiny, which was important.
All of us want to see discrimination on the basis of disadvantage removed. It is unacceptable. To pose a question to Senator Andrews, as two people committed to this, will the introduction of a socio-economic ground root out the causes of disadvantage in itself? It may not but it would be an important step in tackling discrimination and encouraging change. We need to continue the work. We need to have advocacy and conversations such as the one we are having this morning because it is real. I am a former teacher. I meet past pupils and people every day who tell me that because of the location they come from they feel they are not getting a fair chance. That is not right in a world where we should all be treated equally. I look forward to working with Senator Andrews on ensuring we end that discrimination.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-07