As the Deputy is aware, the circumstances of Irish citizens abroad are a matter of the utmost concern to me and to my Department. Successive Ministers have closely followed over many years the highly unsatisfactory situation of Irish nationals teaching in Italian universities who, along with other non-Italian EU nationals, have experienced discrimination with regard to their employment. The Government has supported the European Commission in its efforts on behalf of those experiencing such discrimination.
The Commission's case against Italy at the European Court of Justice was decided in the Commission's favour on 26 June 2001. I warmly welcome the finding of the Venice regional tribunal in the light of that judgment in favour of EU nationals affected by discriminatory employment conditions within Italian universities. I hope that this finding, together with the infringement procedure being undertaken by the Commission with respect to non-implementation of the European Court of Justice's 2001 judgment, will lead to early concrete improvements in the situation of EU nationals teaching in Italian universities.
The Deputy may be assured that we are availing of the opportunity presented by the decision of the Venice regional tribunal to press our concerns on behalf of our citizens in bilateral contacts with the Italian authorities.
