Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I do not think so. Under section 77(3) of the Employment Equality Act 1998 the option for a claimant in a general discrimination case to refer it to the Circuit Court is available, in order to allow access to an unlimited award of compensation. This is a requirement of the gender equal treatment directive, following the 1993 judgment of the European Court of Justice in the Marshall case. There is no requirement on non-gender grounds in either the framework employment directive or the race directive for access to unlimited awards. This amendment would allow access to the Circuit Court for all employment discrimination cases. In the event that the EU Council of Ministers had intended to make available equal levels of redress between gender and non-gender grounds, it was open to the Council to make such provisions in the directives. However, we are certain the Council did not provide for this. The directives provide that sanctions must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. I am satisfied that the existing levels of award open to the Equality Tribunal and the Labour Court in gender and non-gender cases are sufficiently high to deter unscrupulous employers and to fully compensate employees who suffer the effects of discrimination in the workplace.

I understand what Senator Tuffy is saying. It looks somewhat lopsided that there is one rule for gender cases and a different one for non-gender cases. It may well be that a directive in the future may force us to make similar provisions for both. If that happens we will but, as we currently understand European law, there is no such requirement.