Schools not exempt from equality law, says Taylor

FORTHCOMING equality legislation will strike a fair balance between the right of all workers to equality and that of denominational institutions to maintain their ethos, the Minister for Equality and Law Reform has said.

In a statement yesterday, Mr Taylor said the Employment Equality Bill published this week would not provide a "blanket exemption" for religious owned schools. "The principle of equal treatment of all workers will apply to employment in schools, subject only to necessary constitutional constraints. Equality benefits both employers and workers, and should not be seen as a threat to anyone.

The Bill contained an exemption for the "specific needs" of denominational institutions, including educational institutions. "As far as discrimination on religious grounds is concerned, a school must be able to show that the difference of treatment was essential to maintain its ethos or reasonable to avoid offending the religious sensitivities of its members or clients."

The Minister described the Bill as a "major advancement" of the protection of human rights in Ireland. The provisions on denominational bodies represent a "reasonable accommodation" of competing rights in a "difficult" area.

The Association of Irish Humanists accused Mr Taylor of reneging on a commitment given to the UN in 1993 that legislation would address discrimination in the education system.

Accusing the Minister of a "disgraceful and cowardly cop out", the association claimed he had adopted a constitutional interpretation placing civil rights in a subordinate position to the right of a church to manage a school.

"A government with courage would have drafted legislation drawing on the wider spectrum of civil rights in our Constitution. If the President referred it to the Supreme Court, we would know whether genuine equality required a referendum or not", said a spokesman, Mr Dick Spieer.