Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 22 Feb 1994

Vol. 439 No. 2

Written Answers. - Reinstatement of Staff in Civil Service.

Noel Ahern

Ceist:

44 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Finance, in relation to his decision to end the practice of reinstatement into the civil service to staff who left on marriage and later became widows, the number of valid applications for reinstatement before the date of the Employment Equality Agency case to the Labour Court; the timescale for the recruitment of applicants; if the list includes valid applicants to Telecom Éireann who previously were in the Department of Posts and Telegraphs who have been told by Telecom Eireann that they will not be reemployed due to the company's situation.

Minister for Finance (Mr. B. Ahern)

Under the reinstatement provisions, a woman who resigned from the Civil Service for the purposes of, on or following marriage, could seek reinstatement to her former position if she was widowed, if she did not marry or if she could establish to the satisfaction of the Minister for Finance that she was not being supported by her husband — section 11 of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956, as amended by the Civil Service (Employment of Married Women) Act, 1973 refers.

The Labour Court determined on 23 July 1993 that the practice of reinstatement is discriminatory and contrary to the principle of equal treatment. It has recommended that the relevant statutory provisions be repealed. However, applications which were submitted on or before the date the determination issued are being processed to finality and any of the applicants who met the qualifying requirements on that date are to be reinstated. There were approximately 150 applications on hands on that date.

The timelag between being qualified for reinstatement and actually taking up appointment depends on the availability of a suitable vacancy and varies from case to case.

The numbers listed above do not include applicants to Telecom Éireann; such applications are proper to Telecom Éreann and I do not have details of them.