Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 30 Apr 1998

Vol. 490 No. 4

Written Answers. - Civil Service Employment.

Jim Higgins

Ceist:

91 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Finance if former employees of Government Departments who had to resign from employment because of the bar on married women and who applied for re-instatement between 1991 and 1993 are eligible for, or under consideration for, public service re-employment. [10285/98]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

By re-instatement, I take it that the Deputy means special re-admission to employment outside of the normal open recruitment route. No such special re-admission to the Civil Service is available to former civil servants, whether they resigned because of the marriage bar or for other reasons. A scheme which had allowed for the re-admission in certain circumstances of former women civil servants who resigned on marriage was repealed in 1996. The repeal was promoted by a Labour Court determination and legal advice that the scheme was in conflict with the equal treatment directive.

At the time of the scheme's repeal, the Government recognised the desirability of mitigating the effects of the repeal on those former civil servants who might have availed of the scheme had it continued to operate. In this context it was decided to make special provision in the next two series of open clerical assistant and executive officer competitions for the creation of subpanels to be constituted entirely of former civil servants, without distinction as to gender or marital status. One of these executive officer competitions is currently being held.