I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 12 and 27 together.
The problem of sexual harassment in employment is a topic that has been receiving increasing attention in recent years. Last year I published a code of practice on measures to protect the dignity of men and women at work also known as the code of practice on sexual harassment. This code was prepared by the Employment Equality Agency with the full co-operation of both IBEC and the ICTU. In accordance with a commitment in the Programme for Competitiveness and Work it is being promoted, monitored and reviewed by the agency which has already achieved considerable experience and expertise in advising workers and employers on this subject.
Employers and trade unions, through their respective representative bodies of IBEC and the ICTU, have displayed a positive disposition towards combating the problem of sexual harassment in employment and towards putting in place workplace procedures to deal with it. The code of practice will build on these efforts. The Employment Equality Agency has spared no effort to ensure a wide distribution of the code and to date almost 30,000 copies have been distributed to employers, individuals and other interested parties.
The present code of practice is not mandatory but its guidelines may be taken as an authoritative source without precluding employers and workers exercising discretion to adopt other appropriate and equivalent practices if the circumstances of their employment so warrant. In the revised employment equality legislation proposals which I expect to publish before the end of the year, I intend to give the code of practice appropriate legal recognition.
In the interim legal redress is available to victims of sexual harassment under the Employment Equality Act, 1977, notwithstanding the absence of a specific reference in the Act to sexual harassment. In 1985 the Labour Court, in a precedent case, ruled that "freedom from sexual harassment is a condition of work which an employee of either sex is entitled to expect". The court, accordingly, treats any denial of that freedom as discrimination within the terms of the Act.
That Act also prohibits any form of discrimination on the basis of gender or marital status in relation to employment, including access to jobs or promotion. Any person who feels that they have suffered unlawful discrimination under the Act has a right to have their case investigated.