Disabled complaints triple

FAILURE by pubs, restaurants, nightclubs and retailers to treat disabled people fairly has led to a near tripling of complaints to the Equality Tribunal.

Figures from the tribunal’s end-of-year report for 2002 show a 178% increase in the number of claims by disabled persons discriminated against while trying to access certain goods and services.

The claims, made under the Equal Status Act 2000, jumped from 18 in 2001 to 50 last year.

Examples of the type of complaint included a claim that a pub refused to allow a visually impaired man to bring his guide dog into the premises and a claim by a wheelchair-user that a car salesman had refused to deal with him because of his disability.

Workplace discrimination against the disabled also showed an increase, up from 26 claims in 2001 to 44 last year, a jump of 69%.

Director of the Forum for People with Disabilities Dónal Toolan said the increase was welcome but did not

accurately reflect the numbers of disabled discriminated against on a daily basis.

“We regularly have complaints from members that nightclubs won’t admit wheelchairs arguing they could cause patrons to trip, but mostly it’s just a guise not to have to fork out to provide proper facilities for the disabled.

“The same applies to vintners seeking to exclude people under the guise of being a threat to public order. They can articulate their concerns about Travellers because it is feeding into public prejudice, but privately they are using the Traveller excuse to get exemptions for themselves under equality legislation.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Equality Authority said publican and hotelier gripes about the Equal Status Act 2000 were largely unfounded.

Addressing a conference of hoteliers in Waterford yesterday, Brian Merriman said neither group was obliged to serve someone they believed might cause damage to their property, might be disorderly or might be involved in some type of criminal activity.

He appealed to those who had concerns about the legislation to get involved in the drafting of a code of practice for hoteliers and publicans, a blueprint which is currently being drafted.

Travellers seeking access to pubs still make up the majority of cases handled by the Equality Tribunal. Of a total of 1,307 complaints referred to the tribunal last year, 75% were made by Travellers.

Complaints upheld were at 46%; 179 cases were referred for mediation and agreement reached in 49% of cases.

Director of the Equality Tribunal Melanie Pine said the number of cases referred was helping to build “a

valuable database of case-law which is helping to clarify what is and what is not discrimination.”