Financial sector fares badly in study on bias

The banking, insurance companies and financial services sector is the one where people are most likely to feel they have been discriminated against, the first national study on discrimination has found.

The study, which was carried out by the Central Statistics Office and published yesterday in conjunction with the Equality Authority, finds people are most likely to feel they have been discriminated on the basis of age, followed by gender and race.

The survey asked 24,600 people at the end of last year if they had ever been discriminated against. More than one in 10 (12.5 per cent) said they had.

Seventy per cent of those said they had experienced more than one form of discrimination.

It was important to stress, said Niall Crowley, chief executive of the Equality Authority, that the results were based on people's perception of having been discriminated against.

Respondents were offered the nine grounds specified in law as a basis for discrimination - gender, marital status, family status, age, disability, race, sexual orientation, religious belief and Traveller - as well as another category "other" as the reason for being discriminated against.

Though age, gender and race were the three most common grounds, 31 per cent said they had been discriminated against on "other" grounds.

"It's too high a number to ignore," said Mr Crowley. "A significant number of people are experiencing discrimination on grounds other than the nine covered by legislation. This challenges any ambition for our legislation to be comprehensive."

Among the other grounds put forward by a significant number was socio-economic class.

Mr Crowley said the grounds were being reviewed by the Department of Justice. Others which the authority felt should be added were socio-economic class, criminal conviction, trade-union membership and political opinion.

He said the financial sector, as well as the shops, pubs and restaurants sector and the public sector, were all posed particular challenges by the CSO results.

Banks, insurance and financial services was the most common location for reported discrimination (112,500), followed by the workplace (110,600) and shops,pubs and restaurants (80,700).

Mr Crowley called on these sectors to come together and address discrimination. None, he said, had an equality action plan.