Vol. 402 No. 8
12 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Labour if he has satisfied himself that procedures are adequate to ensure the payment of awards made by the Labour Court in sexual harassment cases; if he intends to introduce any new measures to ensure a more speedy payment of awards to victims; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue because it enables me to dispel any confusion that exists. I have had a continuing interest in the matter and the House will be aware of the initiative which I undertook during the Irish Presidency to bring out more clearly in all countries of the European Community the responsibilities of all the parties in this degrading form of victimisation. My policy on this issue is abundantly clear and I believe so is the law.
Under the Employment Equality Act, 1977, if a Labour Court order making an award to a victim of sexual harassment is not complied with within two months, the employer is guilty of an offence. I am advised that where an employer fails to comply with a Labour Court order the person in whose favour the order is made can complain to the gardaí who can have a prosecution initiated through the Director of Public Prosecution's office.
Alternatively, if the complainant makes a complaint to the Minister for Labour the case can be referred to the Chief State Solicitor's office for the initiation of the necessary proceedings. This last is the option which I favour and is the option which is most easily available to an aggrieved party.
I have no reason to believe that procedures need to be changed to ensure payment of awards but I believe that it is important — and I have communicated this to the Chairman of the Labour Court —that it should be generally known that the Minister for Labour will initiate proceedings on behalf of a person to whom an award in a sexual harassment case has not been paid.
I am sure the Minister would agree that women workers are the main victims of this kind of degrading victimisation. It does take a courageous resolve on behalf of women workers in that situation to take an action in the first place because the details can be quite harrowing. While I accept that an employer may be guilty of an offence, to require a woman who may well and usually has lost her job to initiate a prosecution is unrealistic. There ought to be a more easily accessible mechanism to cause a reward in such a case to be implemented. Is the Minister saying that the Chief State Solicitor's office will, in all cases, prosecute employers on behalf of victims who have had awards made to them by the Labour Court?
I agree with the first part of the Deputy's statement, that the individual would have to initiate the case either to get a Labour Court determination or an order. In the case of the termination of working they can then proceed to get an order. If they were to go through the Director of Public Prosecution's office that could be difficult and involve more legal aspects. This has received some airing recently. The practice I have been following for some time is that if a complainant makes a complaint to the Minister for Labour the case can be referred to the Chief State Solicitor's office for the initiation of the necessary proceedings. That is an easier and more effective way for the individual to proceed. My experience has been that I did not have to trouble the Chief State Solicitor's office for too long because the case has been normally resolved. In the event of the case not being resolved the procedure we would follow would be through the Chief State Solicitor's office.
I would like to compliment the Minister for Labour on his work and initiatives in this area. They have been integrated into European guidelines. I welcome, as I am sure does Deputy Rabbitte, the fact that the Minister for Labour can initiate the proceedings on behalf of the victim. May I ask the Minister if that is widely known and whether any costs involved will be carried by the Minister or his Department?
Yes, the costs are carried by the Department because it would be an action I would be initiating as Minister on behalf of the individual on the basis that an order of the court, or a determination of the court, has been ignored by the person on whom it was served. I thank Deputy De Rossa for raising the question and Deputies Barnes and Rabbitte for their interest in this issue. The position is not as well known as it should be and I am using this occasion to reiterate that.
Has the Minister initiated any proceedings?
Yes. As I said at the outset, in the normal course of events I find that I do not have to proceed too far with them because the guilty party owns up and the order is thereby complied with.
