Civil servants are promised equality of opportunity under new Government policy guidelines launched by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, yesterday.
Under the equality of opportunity policy, civil servants are guaranteed no one will receive less favourable treatment because of gender, marital or family status, sexual orientation, race or religious beliefs, disability or membership of the Travelling community.
Equally, the code states that all civil servants have a responsibility to create a working environment in which differences are respected and in which all people, including staff, clients and customers, are valued as individuals.
The report, Diversity in the Civil Service - A policy on Equality of Opportunity, offers guidelines on implementing the Employment Equality Act 1998.
Mr McCreevy said that as the largest employer in Ireland, it was particularly important that the Civil Service maintained a workplace culture which guaranteed equality of opportunity for staff.
On the question of gender equality, Mr McCreevy admitted there was still a significant gender imbalance at management level in the Civil Service.
"The simple fact is that while the majority of civil servants are women, they are under-represented at senior levels in Government departments," he added.
But he stressed that gender equality was not the only issue facing departments.
"The new policy on diversity, together with gender equality, shows staff that the wider modernisation process will help to change the way that departments are managed," the Minister said.
The Equality Authority and a number of non-governmental organisations contributed to framing the document.