Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection

General Scheme of Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed)

1:40 pm

Ms Eithne Reid O'Doherty:

The final point I will make is that the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms has been litigated in a seminal employment equality case in London. The charter only applies in the context of EU legislation but - unlike the European Convention on Human Rights, which is persuasive - it is directly applicable. As a result, it is going to be invoked and we are going to see a constitutional challenge in the courts.