Vol. 520 No. 4
186 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the regulations that exist under data protection legislation or any other legislation indicating what questions may be asked on a staff application form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15820/00]
There are no specific regulations under data protection legislation indicating what questions may be asked on a staff application form. The general rules with regard to the collection, processing, keeping, use and disclosure of personal data are provided in section 2 of the Data Protection Act, 1988. In addition, the Employment Equality Act, 1998 prohibits discrimination in employment or employment related areas on the grounds of gender, marital status, family status, age, sexual orientation, disability, race, religion and membership of the traveller community. While the Act does not contain any provisions specifically relating to questions in application forms, certain questions may be found to be directly or indirectly discriminatory: for example, questions relating to marital status or age may constitute discrimination under the relevant grounds.
