THE President, Mrs Robinson, will decide by tomorrow whether to refer the Employment Equality Bill to the Supreme Court for a test of its constitutionality.
She took advice from a specially-convened two-hour meeting of the Council of State last night on the wisdom of making such a referral to the court. As usual on such occasions, the President gave no indication of her intent ions.
It is reliably understood that President Robinson is considering referring the controversial Section 37, rather than the whole Bill, to the Supreme Court.
Article 26 (1) (i) of the Constitution enables the President, after consultation with the Council of State, to refer a Bill to the Supreme Court for a decision on the question as to whether "such Bill is or any specified provision or provisions of such Bill" is or are repugnant to the Constitution.
The Bill, designed to outlaw discrimination in employment, was recently passed by the Oireachtas and must be signed into law, or referred, by tomorrow.
It rules out discrimination on grounds of sex, marital or family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, and membership of the travelling community. The Bill applies to both public and private sector employment.
While the principle of the Bill was generally accepted, Section 37 relating to religious-run schools caused considerable controversy.
The Minister for Equality and Law Reform, Mr Taylor, amended the Bill in the Dail last month to permit protection of the "religious ethos" of institutions.
Under the new Section 37 of the Bill, religious, educational and medical institutions established to provide services "in an environment which promotes certain religious values" will be permitted to give favourable treatment to employees on religious grounds. _
This treatment must be necessary "to maintain the religious ethos of the institution".
Mr Taylor said, at that time, that the amendment had been drafted after widespread consultation and attempted to strike a balance on the rights of religious denominations.
But the amendment has still met with trenchant opposition from the teachers' groups, especially the INTO and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.
In January, Catholic bishops and educational leaders warned that if the exemption of religious-run schools from the legislation was changed, the future of Catholic education could be jeopardised.
For the first time in the history of a Council of State, a father, former Taoiseach Mr Liam T. Cosgrave, and son, the Cathaoirleach of the Senate, Mr Liam Cosgrave, attended last night's meeting.
