The Government may back a Bill sponsored by a group of Labour Senators and banckbench TDs which will deny 
religious institutions the right not to hire people who could undermine their ethos and to take “reasonable” action against those who do.
According to the Irish Examiner, the Bill is to be published today.
The Labour group behind the Bill say it will end ‘discrimination’ against staff in schools and hospitals who are gay or have children outside marriage.
The group of Senators will introduce the Employment Equality (Amendment) Bill in the Seanad under Private Member’s Business on Wednesday.
Under Section 37 of the current legislation, schools and other church-run bodies are allowed to act against staff or prospective staff members who are deemed to not uphold a particular religious ethos.
This new legislation qualifies that right for any body that receives State funding.
At a press conference yesterday, Labour Senators and backbench TDs said they had the support of Minister for Justice Alan Shatter (pictured) and were confident their Bill would become law.
The proposed amendment will be published today TDs Aodhán Ó Riordáin, John Lyons, Dominic Hannigan, and Ciara Conway, along with Senator Ivana Bacik. Ms Bacik is expected to get the bill onto the Seanad floor during private members’ time next week.
However, although it will have to be discussed at the Cabinet next Tuesday, a source told the Irish Examiner that Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Education Minister Ruairi Quinn saw “considerable merit” in the planned legal changes.
Mr Shatter rejected the Fianna Fail Bill on the grounds that a consultation was needed on the constitutional issues, with arguments that personal rights had to be balanced with the rights of religious groups to uphold their ethos.
This was to have been the topic of a consultation process by the proposed Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, but legislation to set up the new body has yet to be published.
The bill is expected to place a stronger level of responsibility on publicly funded organisations such as schools to uphold equality law. But at the same time, their right to uphold their ethos could be maintained by allowing exemptions to continue in relation to actions in the workplace, as distinct from the personal lives of staff.