If a person applies for a job and they have epilepsy, and one of the essential or preferred criteria is that they must have a C1 driving license (and they can never get this because of their condition) can the employer remove them from the recruitment and selection process?

The Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2011 (the “Acts”) create rights and obligations in respect of certain discriminatory grounds even before the commencement of employment, by including discrimination in access to employment, on grounds of, for example, disability.

The definition of disability under the Acts is extremely wide and has been said to include epilepsy. Discrimination will occur where a person is treated less favourably than another person is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation on grounds of disability.

While the protections available under the Acts on the disability ground do not apply where the person is not fully capable of doing the job in question, the