Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Ireland (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report and the supplementary information provided in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020).

The Committee notes the observations of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), received on 31 August 2019.

Articles 1(1)(a) and 2 of the Convention. Gender discrimination and equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women. The Committee recalls that article 41(2) of the Constitution provides that “the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved” and that “The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.” In its previous comment, the Committee noted the policy statement of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) of June 2018, in which it called for article 41(2) of the Constitution to be rendered gender neutral, refer to “family life” (understood as including a wide range of family relationships and situations in which family members do not live in the same house) and recognize and support care work, including by parents and other persons providing family care. Noting the ongoing constitutional review process, the Committee urged the Government to provide information on the steps taken to ensure that article 41(2) of the Constitution does not encourage, directly or indirectly, stereotypical treatment of women in the context of employment and occupation. It notes the Government’s statement in its report that the referendum foreseen on the question was postponed and the matter was referred to a Citizens Assembly, composed of a Chairperson and 99 citizens randomly selected to be broadly representative of the Irish electorate. The Committee welcomes the fact that in February 2020 a large majority of the Citizens Assembly was in favour of the deletion and/or replacement of article 41(2) of the Constitution. It also notes the supplementary information provided by the Government, indicating that subsequent meetings of the Citizens Assembly have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that it met on-line in July 2020 to consider public submissions. The Government indicates that the situation is being kept under ongoing review and that it is expected that the Assembly will issue a series of recommendations. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the steps taken to implement the recommendations of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, as well as the Citizens Assembly initiative, and to ensure that article 41(2) of the Constitution does not in any way encourage, directly or indirectly, the stereotypical treatment of women in the context of employment and occupation.

Article 1(1)(a). Discrimination based on political opinion or social origin. In its previous comment, the Committee once again urged the Government to take steps to ensure legislative protection against discrimination in employment and occupation based on political opinion and social origin, and to provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure protection in practice. The Committee once again recalls that, where legal provisions are adopted to give effect to the Convention, they should include at least all of the grounds of discrimination set out in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. The Committee welcomes the Government’s statement that the Department of Justice and Equality has commissioned research on the addition of socio-economic status as a prohibited ground of discrimination in the equality legislation and that the findings of the research are due in the autumn of 2020. The Committee however notes with concern that, with regard to discrimination based on political opinion, the Government states that there are no further developments envisaged. In this regard, the Committee also notes the ICTU’s observations emphasizing that Chapter 6 of the Belfast Agreement (signed on 10 April 1998, also known as “the Good Friday Agreement”), entitled “Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity”, commits the Government of Ireland to take measures to ensure that there is at least equivalent protection of human rights in Ireland as in Northern Ireland. In this regard, the Committee further notes the indication by the ICTU that the anti-discrimination legislation in Northern Ireland includes political opinion as a prohibited ground of discrimination. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the findings of the research commissioned on including socio-economic status as an additional prohibited ground of discrimination in the equality legislation and on the measures taken or envisaged as a result. It once again urges the Government to take steps to ensure formal legislative protection against discrimination in employment and occupation based on political opinion and social origin and to provide information on how protection against discrimination on these two grounds is ensured in practice.

Article 1(2). Inherent requirements of the job. In order to ensure that any exception to the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in the Convention is restricted to the inherent requirements of a particular job, in previous comments the Committee urged the Government to take steps to amend the relevant provisions of section 2 of the Employment Equality Act 1998, as revised, which excludes from the scope of the Act “persons employed in another person’s home for the provision of personal services for persons residing in that home where the services affect the private or family life of such persons” (section 2 thereby permits employers of domestic workers to make recruitment decisions on discriminatory grounds). The Committee notes the Government’s statement that there have been no further developments in this regard. It is therefore bound to recall once again what may be considered “inherent requirements of the job” and that overly broad exceptions in equality legislation excluding domestic workers from the protection of discrimination in respect of access to employment may lead to discriminatory practices by employers against these workers, contrary to the Convention. The Committee considers that the right to respect for private and family life should not be construed as protecting conduct that infringes the fundamental right to equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, including conduct consisting of differential treatment of candidates for employment on the basis of any of the grounds covered by Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention where this is not justified by the inherent requirements of the particular job (2012 General Survey on fundamental Conventions, paragraph 830). In this regard, the Committee once again wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the fact that: (1) no provision in the Convention limits its scope with regard to individuals or branches of activity; and (2) the protection afforded by the Convention includes all aspects of employment and occupation, including access to employment and to particular occupations. The Committee once again urges the Government to take steps to amend the relevant parts of section 2 of the Employment Equality Act so as to ensure that any limitations on the right to non-discrimination in all aspects of employment and occupation are restricted to the inherent requirements of the particular job, as strictly defined.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.