Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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324. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the position regarding personal information being requested on job application forms (details supplied); and if he would confirm if this is legal, as some of the questions posed are discriminatory in nature; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15791/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Public Appointments Service (PAS) is committed to an equal opportunities policy, and in accordance with the Employment Equality Acts (1998 to 2011) aims to ensure that all applicants are treated equally whatever their gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race or membership of the traveller community.

As part of its ongoing commitment to equality, the PAS monitors its selection processes in order to ensure that its equal opportunities policy is effectively implemented and to this end it invites candidates to complete an equality monitoring questionnaire. Candidates are informed that completion of this questionnaire is completely voluntary, and that the purpose of gathering the information is to ensure that the selection techniques used are fair to all and that no group is inadvertently discriminated against.

Neither the manner in which candidates respond to this questionnaire, nor the answers that they may provide has any bearing on the manner in which their application is considered. The information is held by the PAS in a secure data base and is used to produce data in an anonymous statistical format only.

I am happy that in this matter PAS is complying both with its legal obligations and with best practice in diversity monitoring.