Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 27 Jun 2001

Vol. 539 No. 2

Written Answers. - Employee Protection.

Noel Ahern

Ceist:

60 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if there are any laws, regulations or guidelines issued by her Department to employers in relation to the way in which prospective or existing employees should be questioned in relation to life to date, and specifically health record and personal history; if any action can be taken against an employer and any protection given to a prospective employee, in relation to requests from employers for personal history details including appetite, tobacco use, alcohol consump tion, family history and menstrual periods; and if she will take up with employers' representatives that such information should never be requested by management as perhaps distinct from a company doctor. [19290/01]

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Mr. T. Kitt)

I am advised that questioning of existing or prospective employees by employers, along the lines set out by the Deputy, has no legal basis and cannot be carried out without a person's consent. Under our Constitution, it may be an infringement of human rights in relation to privacy and bodily integrity to do so. Even if it were a condition of a contract of employment that employees or potential employees were required to undergo some form of health screening, the prior consent of the employee would be required.

The retention of records by employers or disclosure of information to other potential employers would be in contravention of the Data Protection Act, 1988, which requires that all information held by employers should be relevant to the position held or being applied for, by the employee. In addition, there would also be breaches of the Freedom of Information Act, 1998, in relation to public servants if records relating to them were transferred to another employer.

Requiring some employees and not others to undergo health screening would also be discriminatory under the Equality Act, 1998. Finally, because of the complexity of the issue, I have no proposals to introduce legislation to regulate health screening of employees. Breaches of the legislation referred to may be pursued in accordance with the arrangements set out in the respective Acts.