Vol. 418 No. 6
149 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Labour when he proposes to bring forward the legislation to amend the Unfair Dismissals Act; and if, as part of the revision of that Act, he intends the category of sexual orientation to be added to the Act for the purposes of prohibiting discrimination under the provisions of the revised Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Unfair Dismissals (Amendment) Bill, 1992 is at an advanced stage of preparation and it is my intention to introduce the Bill in the Oireachtas in the coming session.
In the course of the review of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 submissions from many interested parties were received. Among the variety of issues raised in the submissions was a proposal to amend the Act to include, in the list of automatically unfair grounds for dismissal at section 6 (2) of the Act, dismissal for reasons of the sexual orientation of the employee. As with all the issues raised, this proposal is being given full consideration by my Department. However, as the Deputy will appreciate, it would be inappropriate for me to indicate at this stage the likely contents of the proposed Bill in advance of the circulation of the final text to Members of the Oireachtas.
