Vol. 474 No. 6
230 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will give details of the EU directives, regulations and conventions in respect of which his Department has responsibility and which have not been incorporated into or made part of Irish law; and if he will give a timescale for completion of the work in respect of each instrument. [3777/97]
The Council of Ministers for Social Affairs, at a meeting on 2 December 1996 during the Irish Presidency, agreed a directive amending Directive 86/378/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in occupational social security schemes. The directive which has since been formally adopted will be published shortly in the Official Journal. The amendments provided for are designed to ensure that Directive 86/378/EEC, as amended, is consistent with Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome, as interpreted by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the Barber and related judgments. Article 119 requires for equal pay, including occupational benefit, for men and women doing like work.
The terms of the amending directive are required to be transposed into national law by 1 July 1997. The provisions of Directive 86/378/EEC have already been transposed into national law in part VII of the Pensions Act. This part has also been amended on a number of occasions since 17 May 1990 — date of the Barber judgment — to bring its provisions into line with various judgments of the European Court. The pensions board are currently examining the new amending directive and will be reporting to me shortly on the remaining legislative changes required to transpose its provisions into Part VII of the Pensions Act.
There are no other directives, regulations or conventions for which my Department has responsibility awaiting transposal into Irish law.
