Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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515. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when it is intended for Ireland to ratify International Labour Organisation Convention 156 on work life balance. [59365/22]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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516. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when it is intended for Ireland to ratify International Labour Organisation Convention 183 on maternity care. [59366/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 515 and 516 together.

ILO Convention 156, concerning Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment for Men and Women Workers: Workers with Family Responsibilities, was adopted in 1981 and entered into force in August 1983. To date, 13 EU Member States have ratified Convention 156, while 14 EU Member States including Ireland, have not.

ILO Convention 183, the Maternity Protection Convention, was adopted in 2000 and entered into force in February 2002. To date, 15 EU Member States have ratified Convention 183, while 12 EU Member States including Ireland, are yet to ratify.

Relevant provisions of ILO Conventions 156 and 183 will be examined in the context of the transposition of the EU Work life Balance Directive, and of the ongoing review of equality legislation.

On 20 September, the Government gave its approval for the publication of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022, the primary purpose of which is to provide for transposition of elements of the EU Work Life Balance Directive. The Bill passed Committee Stage in the Dáil on Tuesday 8 November.

Discrimination on the family status ground is prohibited in Irish law in the field of employment under the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2021 and in the supply of and access to goods and services under the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2018. My Department invited written submissions to a public consultation on the review of equality legislation in 2021 to examine the functioning of the Acts and their effectiveness in combatting discrimination and promoting equality. These submissions are currently being analysed by officials in the Department and it is planned that a report on the submissions will be ready for publication before the end of the year. Legislative proposals arising out of the review of the Equality Acts will be brought forward in 2023. However, the nature of these proposals will be dependent on the issues raised in the consultation process as well as on further research.

My Department's officials will then advise the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment of the extent to which equality and work-life balance policy measures and legislation provide for relevant rights and entitlements included in ILO Conventions C156 and C183.

It will be a matter for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to consider ratification of ILO Conventions C156 and C183 in the context of its standard approach to the ratification of international instruments.