Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 123 to 128, inclusive, further refine the changes that have to be made to the Employment Equality Act 1998 in light of the establishment of the workplace relations commission and the transfer of the functions of the director of the Equality Tribunal to the director general of the commission. In addition to a number of technical or drafting changes, these amendments propose two substantive additional changes in respect of complaints brought under the Employment Equality Act 1998 as follows. A complainant will not be permitted to recover redress for discriminatory dismissal in circumstances where a court has begun hearing his or her wrongful dismissal action or an adjudication officer has determined his or her complaint under the Unfair Dismissal acts. I am in consultation with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on this amendment and it may be necessary to introduce a further amendment on Report Stage to further clarify the provision in relation to parallel claims under the Unfair Dismissal Acts and the Employment Equality Act 1998.

Transitional arrangements for amendments to the Employment Equality Act 1998 effected by section 84 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 will not apply in relation to an employment equality complaint referred before the commencement of section 84. The Minister will return on Report Stage.