Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

When I addressed this amendment on Committee Stage, I explained there was no requirement on the non-gender grounds in either the framework employment directive or the race directive for access to unlimited awards. The amendments 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 the gender and non-gender grounds, it was open to the Council to make such provision in the directives, however, the Council did not provide for this.

Section 77(3) of the Employment Equality Act 1998 provides that the option for a claimant in a general discrimination case to refer the case 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 judgment of the European Court of Justice in the Marshall case of 1993. It is our understanding that the Marshall case only compelled this procedure in gender-related cases and not in other cases. The directives provide that sanctions must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. We are satisfied that the existing level of awards open to the equality tribunal and the Labour Court meet the requirements of the directives. The sanctions available 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.