Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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149. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to examine the need for a change to section 37(1) of the Employment Equality Act 1998 in view of the reported case (details supplied) of a teacher receiving negative marks in a selection process for a deputy principal position due to religious beliefs. [47703/17]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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150. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has discussed the matter of discrimination against school staff with an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47704/17]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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151. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the reported case of a person (details supplied) not obtaining a deputy principal position in a school due to their personal circumstances took place prior to the commencement of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015. [47705/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 149 to 151, inclusive, together.

The Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015, which commenced on 1 January 2016, provided for certain changes in the exclusion of discrimination on particular grounds in certain employments (i.e. educational or medical institutions maintained, in whole or in part, by monies provided by the Oireachtas) by amending Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998.

The amended Section 37 imposes a higher burden of proof on relevant employers in that it obliges them to show that, for example, any favourable treatment of an employee or prospective employee is limited to the religion ground, that the treatment does not constitute discrimination on any of the other discriminatory grounds (gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community). More favourable treatment on the religion ground shall be taken to be discrimination unless by reason of the nature of the institution’s activities or the context in which the activities are being carried out, the religion or belief of the employee or prospective employee constitutes a genuine, legitimate and justified occupational requirement having regard to the institution’s ethos, that the action taken against a person must be objectively justified by reference to that institution’s aim of protecting its religious ethos and that the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary. 

My Department has received correspondence in relation to the matter raised by the Deputy. Whilst the interviews referred to in the correspondence took place prior to the commencement of the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 my Department takes these matters most seriously and has written to the bodies involved seeking clarity on the issues raised.