Equal Status Acts 2000 - 2008
Decision DEC-S2010-028
Maurice Cleary
V
Galway City Council
Key words
Equal Status Acts - Direct discrimination, section 3(1)(a) - Gender ground, section 3(2)(a) - Marital Status ground, section 3(2)(b) - Disability ground, section 3(2)(g) - Race ground, section 3(2)(h) - Supply of goods and services, section 5(1) - Application for Housing
1 Delegation under the Equal Status Acts
The complainant referred a claim to the Director of the Equality Tribunal under the Equal Status Acts, 2000 -2004. On the 12 December 2008, in accordance with her powers under section 75 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 and under the Equal Status Acts, the Director delegated the case to myself, Brian O'Byrne, an Equality Officer, for investigation, hearing and decision and for the exercise of other relevant functions of the Director under Part III of the Equal Status Acts, 2000-2008, on which date my investigation commenced. As required by 25(1) and as part of my investigation, I proceeded to Hearing on the 23 March 2010.
2 Complainant Evidence at Hearing
The complainant was first asked to identify his reasons for lodging his complaint under four different grounds namely Gender, Marital Status, Disability and Race. In reply, he explained that he felt that he had been discriminated against on all four grounds in that he was male, single, had submitted doctors' certificates in support of his application and, on the Race ground, he said that he understood that the Council had adopted a policy of offering accommodation to foreign nationals ahead of Irish nationals.
He also claimed that the Council's current published criteria for allocating housing was discriminatory in that it stated that preference would be given to housing applicants who could demonstrate a "reasonable association" with Galway.
The complainant is 49 years of age and has lived for most of his life in Dublin. He also lived for short periods in Kilkenny and Waterford. He has being renting accommodation for the past 30 years and receives rent allowance to help pay for his accommodation.
He has never lived in Galway. In March 2005 he applied to Galway City Council for accommodation. He did so because he was "fed up" with Dublin and a friend had recommended Galway to him. He was living in Elgin Road, Ballsbridge at the time he submitted his application and moved to Wellington Cottages, Ballsbridge shortly afterwards. He accepts, however, that he may not have notified the Council of his change of address.
Mr. Cleary states that the Council should have been aware of his new address in 2006 and produced copies of documents he claims he got from the respondents under FOI showing his new address. At the Hearing the Council said that the documents produced were not from their files and that they had no record of having seen them prior to the Hearing
When he had heard nothing about his housing application from the Council by July 2007, he sent them an FOI request seeking particulars from his housing file and received some documentation in return. In September 2007, he sent them a ES1 form indicating that he was considering lodging an equality complaint against the Council. At no point between 2005 and 2007 did he phone or write to the Council to enquire as to the status of his housing application.
3 Respondents Evidence at Hearing
Galway County Council received Mr. Cleary's housing application in March 2005 and acknowledged it. The complaint was processed and in January 2006 a letter was sent to Mr. Cleary at his Elgin Road address seeking additional documentation relating to his income, rent allowance and medical condition. A reminder issued on 7 September 2006. When no response was received he was informed by letter dated 26 September 2006 to his Elgin Road address that his name had been removed from the Housing List because of his failure to respond.
In 2007, an FOI request was received from Mr. Cleary from his new address in Wellington Road. This was responded to as was a second FOI request received in December 2007. The Council also received the ES1 form around this time and, while they cannot explain why, they accept that they did not respond to it.
The Council state that they have a Scheme of Letting Priorities in place which they abide by in considering all housing applications. Under the Scheme, applicants are required to furnish all necessary documentation in support of their application before their case can be assessed.
The Council maintain that Mr. Cleary's application was dealt with no differently than all other applications and that the reason he was not put on the housing list was simply because he did not respond to their letters seeking additional documentation.
The Council totally deny that they have adopted a policy of offering accommodation to foreign nationals ahead of Irish nationals. They state that all cases are treated equally regardless of race.
The Council accept that from 2008 they have had to be more restrictive in accepting housing applications because of the large numbers on their waiting list (currently 2800) and that they now give preference to applicants with a "reasonable association" with Galway i.e. who already live in Galway or who have close family members living there.
4 Conclusions of the Equality Officer
In cases such as this, the burden of proof lies with the complainant who, in order to demonstrate that a prima facie case of discrimination exists, must establish facts from which it may be presumed that prohibited conduct has occurred. On establishment of these facts, the burden of proof then shifts to the respondent who, in order to successfully defend his case, must show that his actions were driven by factors which were non-discriminatory. In making my decision, I have taken into account all of the evidence, both written and oral, made to me by the parties to the case.
From the evidence before me I am satisfied that the Council dealt with Mr. Cleary's application fully in accordance with their standard assessment procedures and that the sole reason for his application being removed from the Housing list was his failure to inform the Council of his change of address.
While Mr. Cleary maintains that the Council was in possession of correspondence with his new address on it, the evidence supplied indicates that this correspondence originated from Dublin City Council and not from files held by Galway City Council.
I also note in this regard that, not only did Mr. Cleary not notify the Council of his change of address, but he also did not consider it worthwhile between March 2005 and July 2007 to contact the Council by phone or letter to enquire about his application which raises the question as to how serious Mr. Cleary was about living in Galway.
In relation to the allegation that the Council has adopted a policy of offering accommodation to foreign nationals ahead of Irish nationals, I note that the Council totally reject this claim and that Mr. Cleary has provided no evidence to support his claim. Accordingly, I find that he has not established a prima facie case to support his allegation.
With regard to the allegation that it is discriminatory to give preference to applicants with a "reasonable association" with Galway, I cannot accept that this claim falls for consideration under any of the grounds covered by the Equal Status Acts.
5 Decision
In accordance with Section 25(4) of the Equal Status Acts, 2000 to 2008, I issue the following decision.
I find that the complainant has not established a prima facie case under any of the four grounds identified. Accordingly, I find that the complaint fails and I find in favour of the respondent.
Brian O'Byrne
Equality Officer
28 May 2010