Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Statutory Instrument 26/04/1924: Regulations by the Minister of Finance Under Section 9 of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1924 provided, inter alia, that female Civil Servants holding established posts would be required on marriage to resign from the Civil Service. The Civil Service (Employment of Married Women) Act, 1973 provided for the repeal of certain statutory provisions restricting the employment of married women in the Civil Service, including the repeal of Section 10 requiring women to retire on marriage. The marriage bar applied to female primary school teachers. All female teachers who entered teaching service on or after 1 October 1934 had to retire on marriage. The only exception to this was in the case of women who had completed their teacher training course before that date but had not been appointed to a permanent teaching position until on or after that date. The marriage bar was removed for primary school teachers on 30 June 1958. I am not aware of any Constitutional challenges having been taken as a result of the marriage bar. In the Civil Service the superannuation scheme was non-contributory for women in the period in question, so therefore the issue of repayment of contributions does not arise. Women who were compulsorily retired on marriage could, in certain circumstances, qualify for a marriage gratuity.