Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In broad terms I support the point Senator Zappone is trying to make in the amendments. It is important to refer, and I will do so in very brief terms, to the overall impetus behind the Bill, which was introduced last May.

I made the point during the last debate that while I welcomed the fact that any move was being made to address this legislation, I am strongly of the view that the Bill does not go far enough. It does not make it clear that there are no circumstances in which a person cannot be discriminated against for being LGBT, an unmarried parent, a divorced person or anything else. It changes the onus of proof. Unless our legislation makes it absolutely clear that there are no circumstances in which an employer can discriminate against someone on grounds of sexual orientation or other inherent personal characteristic, the fear and self-censorship that LGBT teachers, doctors and others feel at the present time will remain. Teachers in particular have been in contact with me and told me that their real fear is of the unknown. People often say that if a case went to court, it might well be decided in favour of the employee, but it is the unknown that stops people coming out in schools. It is the unknown that sends them back into their staff room every Monday morning where they lie about their weekend and cannot talk about their personal relationships out of fear. In this House in 2014 we must give nothing short of an absolute blanket guarantee to such members of staff that there is no way their employers can discriminate against them just because they are gay. Anything short of that is insufficient.

I am genuinely concerned about the legislation. While I accept that it shifts the onus of proof and makes it clear that it is on the employer, the only way we can know what is justifiable is when someone goes into court and argues with his or her employer in court about whether the discrimination was justifiable. It is only then that we will find out what the benefit or otherwise of the Bill is. That is unacceptable. All employees deserve the absolute protection of their equal rights as citizens to those of other teachers or doctors and any other employee in their workplace. Everybody should be judged solely on the ability to do his or her job and nothing else.

The Bill does not go far enough. I am concerned that whatever about the decisions made in the House in 1997 and 1998 when the original Acts were being debated and implemented, it would be regressive for us to pass a Bill in 2014 that accepts it is okay that there are still circumstances in which one can discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation or family or marital status. It would be a great missed opportunity and send a damaging message from the House that we think discrimination against people on those grounds is justifiable.

For that reason, I have tabled a number of amendments and wish to hear the Minister of State's response to them. We will at least be able to see where we are going with the direction of the Bill. On Second Stage, it was indicated that Government amendments would be brought forward on Committee Stage. We are on Committee Stage a year later with exactly the same Bill and no Government amendments. None of us has any sense of where this is going. When the Minister came to this House to debate the Fianna Fáil Bill two years ago, he said he would immediately commission the Human Rights and Equality Commission to undertake a study and public consultation. I questioned him and made it clear at the time that I was concerned that no clear deadline had been placed on that. We have still not seen the report of that work two years later. The deadline closed in November but we have not seen the report. The submissions have not been published either. None of us is any wiser in this debate than we were two years ago and that is not acceptable.

We have tabled a number of amendments. While I will not push them to a vote today. We will listen to what is said today but we will push them on Report Stage. On Report Stage, neither I nor our group will be able to accept the Bill in its current form. We genuinely believe it is regressive. We hope we can take the opportunity of today's debate and the amendments Senator Zappone and I have tabled to ensure that we strengthen the Bill and that it achieves the ultimate objective of removing the chill factor and ensure that there is no doubt in anyone's mind that discrimination is justifiable.