EU directives require changes to legislation

Changes will have to be made to Irish legislation to comply with new EU directives, a legal expert said yesterday. Ms Cathryn Costello of the Irish Centre for European Law said 12 areas of change would be required by three new directives on race and ethnicity, employment, and gender equality.

Currently Irish employers are asked to provide accommodation for employees with disabilities if it is not beyond "a nominal cost". The EU Framework Directive requires accommodation as long as this does not place "a disproportionate burden". Employers can currently make a defence against age discrimination if they can show that there is clear evidence of increased costs if abandoned. This defence will be abolished. Religious employers will also be more restricted in discriminating on religious grounds. Under the EU rulings, religious employers may only discriminate where religion is "a genuine occupational requirement".