ON HIS last day in the Dail the Minister for Equality and Law Reform, Mr Taylor, saw one of his most cherished projects struck down by the Supreme Court.
The court ruled yesterday that three parts of the Employment Equality Bill, which sought to out-law discrimination in employment, were unconstitutional. The implications of this decision will be discussed by the Cabinet next Wednesday.
The court decision means that, before it can become law, the Bill will have to be redrafted in the light of the Supreme Court's ruling and reintroduced in the Oireachtas by the incoming government.
Some months ago Mr Taylor announced his intention to retire from politics. He remains a Minister until a new government is formed.
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) had vigorously opposed the section of the Bill dealing with discrimination on the grounds of religion. The Bill allows such discrimination in educational and medical institutions in order to maintain their ethos. The Supreme Court, presided over by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hamilton, did not find this section unconstitutional.
It did find unconstitutional the section seeking to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of disability, though it found its intentions laudable. The Bill requires employers to make specified arrangements for a disabled person which could impose significant costs on employers. This was an unjust attack on their property rights, the judgment stated.
A section of the Bill referring to vicarious liability", where an employer could be found liable for discrimination carried out by an employee, was also ruled unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court's third objection to the Bill related to a more technical matter concerning a new offence of impeding the Labour Court or an equality officer. This could run counter to the principle of affording a person a fair trial, it said.
Mr Taylor said he was very pleased" the Supreme Court had vindicated his decision to propose Section 37 (1) of the Bill, on the issue of denominational institutions. The entirely spurious arguments of the INTO and others lie in ruins after today's judgment," he said.
However, Mr Joe O'Toole, general secretary of the INTO, was jubilant after the decision. "The fact is, it's been struck down. It's gone. This Bill will not be signed into law," he said.
The ASTI last night said it was pleased that section 37 of the Bill had lapsed.
The Irish Council of People with Disabilities said it was dismayed at the court's decision, and called for a referendum to reverse it.