Vol. 451 No. 2
109 Mr. L. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to a decision by the European Court of Justice that part-time workers be permitted to join their respective company pension schemes; the legislation, if any, he is preparing to implement this decision for Irish part-time workers; if he proposes any retrospective element to such legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6294/95]
The provisions of the Pensions Act, 1990, on equal treatment are in accord with the judgments of the European Court of Justice in this matter.
The questions addressed by the court related to access to schemes for part-time workers. The majority of part-time workers are women and the court had previously decided that their effective exclusion from schemes was in conflict with the equality provisions of the EU treaties. Section 70 of the Pensions Act provides that an employer shall comply with the principle of equal treatment in relation to the manner in which he affords his employees access to an occupational benefit scheme. The recent judgments confirm that the exclusion of part-time workers from an occupational pensions scheme where that exclusion affects one sex more than another constitutes discrimination contrary to Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome, unless it can be established that the exclusion is based on objectively justified factors in no way related to discrimination based on sex. The judgments also extend its application back to 1976. I am seeking clarification from the Attorney General as to the precise effects of this and, in particular, how statutory time limits under national legislation affect it.
