THE EUROPEAN Commission says it is no longer pursuing a case against Ireland relating to exemptions that, in certain cases, allow for more favourable treatment to be given to employees on religious grounds.
The commission had concerns that staff or prospective employees at educational or medical establishments receive better treatment where it is reasonable to do so to maintain the religious ethos of that institution.
It was also concerned that some institutions have policies that “reasonably prevent” an employee from undermining the reigning religious ethos. That exemption could be viewed as a barrier to gay and lesbian people, it had said.
The commission’s decision, announced yesterday, follows correspondence between authorities here and the commission over the past two years regarding the issue of protection against discrimination based on religion.
It said it was happy with Ireland’s response on the subject. Commission sources said there were enough guarantees in place within Irish law and there are now “no worries from our side”.
In 2000, the Council of Ministers adopted a directive which provides the framework for combating discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation regarding employment and occupation.
The commission said it had carefully examined the relevant national legislation and concluded that several member states, including Ireland, did not provide the entire protection required by the directive. In relation to Ireland, it decided to open infringement procedures for the incorrect transposition of the directive.
In January 2007, the commission sent a letter of formal notice raising doubts on the compatibility of some rules of the Irish anti-discrimination law with the directive. One of these points concerned the protection against discrimination based on religion.
However, the commission has concluded that after analysing the latest detailed Irish reply to its queries, it is satisfied “with the measures that have been taken and has, therefore, decided not to pursue the infringement procedure on this point”.