Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 437: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to ratify Protocol No. 12 to the European Court of Human Rights on the general prohibition of discrimination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35677/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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As a signatory to Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights, Ireland keeps the question of ratifying the Protocol under review. The major issue is the lack of clarity as to the precise extent of the obligations imposed on States Parties by the very broad general prohibition on discrimination in Article 1 of the Protocol. It is notable also that no definition of discrimination is provided in Protocol 12.

My Department will watch closely how the European Court of Human Rights interprets the scope of this Article when it comes to rule on individual cases. The open, non-exhaustive list of discrimination grounds in the Protocol would seem to be at variance with the prescriptive list of discrimination grounds enshrined in Ireland's Employment Equality and Equal Status Acts and on the face of it militates against legal certainty. There are no proposals to ratify the Protocol in the short term.