Debate contribution: Age Discrimination (Goods, Facilities and Services) Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Ms Paula Bradshaw on .
- MLA
- Ms Paula Bradshaw
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 20 October 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Age Discrimination (Goods, Facilities and Services) Bill: Second Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5798515
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you. I concur with your thought that we should not use the Equality Act as the baseline. When we conducted our inquiry into gaps in equality legislation, there was feedback that the Act in Great Britain is not perfect and could be modernised and added to. I appreciate your intervention there. The Bill sponsor touched on the consultation, which had just 48 online responses, of which 19 were detailed responses from stakeholders. We as a Committee have not put out our own call for views, because the Bill has not passed Second Stage yet. I hope that we are successful in attracting a wide and varied range of responses, because I want to drill down into the issue of 16 versus 18 versus no specified age. I will certainly encourage children's charities to engage with us when we put out our call. I will not go into all the specifics. The Bill sponsor touched on the penalties for discriminating on the basis of age in providing goods and services. There is the issue that it would be purely on civil matters and dealt with via compensation or enforcement action. Would there also be the potential for investigation by the Equality Commission or the Human Rights Commission for binding action plans that could be subject to criminal proceedings, as in Great Britain? I will leave that question hanging. In conclusion, I join others in commending the Bill sponsor for introducing the Bill. I share her frustration that there has been a significant gap in equality law in Northern Ireland for a significant time. As I said, the issue of age is something that I want to return to. I want to ensure that the Committee plays an important role in putting forward, in our Committee report, guidance to the Executive Office on what should go in the regulations. Nevertheless, I commend the Bill sponsor for her work and look forward to working with her in the months ahead.
328 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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