Vol. 428 No. 2
67 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Finance if he will investigate the number of instances where women who have applied to be reinstated to the Civil Service have been refused their application, on the basis that they had a husband who was working or in receipt of unemployment benefit.
The only legal basis on which civil servants who resign may subsequently be reinstated to their former positions is contained in section 11 of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956 as amended by section 4 of the Civil Service (Employment of Married Women) Act, 1973. These provisions permit the reinstatement of a woman who has resigned from the service for the purpose of, on or following marriage, if she is a widow, if she did not marry or if she establishes to the satisfaction of the Minister for Finance that she is not being supported by her husband. Accordingly, the law requires that a married applicant establish that she is not being supported by her husband. I can assure the Deputy that no applicant has been turned down solely because her husband is working or in receipt of unemployment benefit. Where a husband is working, it entirely depends on his income and the general family circumstances. Nor is an applicant automatically refused because her husband is unemployed and in receipt of social welfare payments as there may be special circumstances which would permit her reinstatement.
