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8 2000

EQUAL STATUS ACT, 2000

PART V

General

Expenses.

40. —Any expenses incurred in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Regulations.

41. —(1) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of giving effect to this Act including regulations prescribing forms and the information to be contained in any notice to be used for any purpose under this Act.

(2) The Minister may by regulations specify, in cases where provision is not otherwise made in that behalf by regulations under this Act or the Employment Equality Act, 1998

(a) procedures to be followed by the Director or, as the case may be, the Labour Court, in carrying out functions under this Act or the Employment Equality Act, 1998 , and

(b) time limits applicable to the carrying out of such functions, including procedures for extending those limits in certain circumstances.

but before making any such regulations the Minister shall—

(i) in the case of any such regulations relating to the functions of the Labour Court, consult with the Authority and the Labour Court and obtain the consent of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and

(ii) in any other case, consult with the Authority and the Director.

(3) Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under it.

(4) Any regulation made under this Act may contain such consequential, supplementary and ancillary provisions as the Minister considers necessary or expedient.

Vicarious liability.

42. —(1) Anything done by a person in the course of his or her employment shall, in any proceedings brought under this Act, be treated for the purposes of this Act as done also by that person's employer, whether or not it was done with the employer's knowledge or approval.

(2) Anything done by a person as agent for another person, with the authority (whether express or implied and whether precedent or subsequent) of that other person shall, in any proceedings brought under this Act, be treated for the purposes of this Act as done also by that other person.

(3) In proceedings brought under this Act against an employer in respect of an act alleged to have been done by an employee of the employer, it shall be a defence for the employer to prove that the employer took such steps as were reasonably practicable to prevent the employee—

(a) from doing that act, or

(b) from doing in the course of his or her employment acts of that description.

Offences generally.

43. —(1) A person guilty of an offence under any provision of this Act shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £25,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or both.

(2) If the contravention in respect of which a person is convicted of an offence under any provision of this Act is continued after the conviction, the person shall be guilty of a further offence on every day on which the contravention continues and for each such offence shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £250 or, on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £1,500.

Offence-related provisions.

44. —(1) Summary proceedings for an offence under any provision of this Act may be instituted by the Minister or the Authority.

(2) Where an offence under this Act which is committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person who, when the offence was committed, was a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if guilty of the offence committed by the body corporate.

(3) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (2) applies as if the reference to a director in that subsection were a reference to a member of the body corporate.

(4) Notwithstanding section 10(4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under any provision of this Act may be instituted within 12 months from the date of the offence.

Court jurisdiction.

45. — The jurisdiction conferred on the Circuit Court or District Court in proceedings under this Act shall be exercised by a judge of that Court for the time being assigned to the circuit or, as the case may be, the district in which the defendant ordinarily resides or carries on any profession, business or occupation.

Application of Act.

46. —(1) The provisions of this Act shall extend to and apply in respect of any ship or aircraft registered in the State that is operated by a person who has a principal place of business or ordinary place of residence in the State, whether or not the ship or aircraft is outside the State.

(2) An act which—

(a) is done on or in respect of such a ship or aircraft while subject to the jurisdiction of a country outside the State, and

(b) is required to be done to comply with the law of that country,

shall not constitute discrimination for the purposes of this Act.

Amendment of Employment Equality Act, 1998.

47. —The Employment Equality Act, 1998 , is hereby amended by the insertion of the following section after section 105:

“Transitional provision.

106.—(1) This section applies to a claim for redress under a repealed enactment—

(a) which is made on or after the commencement of Part VII (the ‘commencement date’), and

(b) which relates—

(i) only to conduct before the commencement date, or

(ii) to conduct both before and after that date.

(2) In this section—

‘commencement date’ means the 18th day of October, 1999;

‘conduct’ means conduct alleged to have occurred;

‘repealed enactment’ means the Anti-Discrimination (Pay) Act, 1974 , or the Employment Equality Act, 1977 .

(3) A claim for redress to which this section applies shall—

(a) as regards the substance of the claim—

(i) if or in so far as the claim relates to conduct before the commencement date, be dealt with as if the enactment concerned had not been repealed, and

(ii) in so far as it may relate to conduct after that date, be dealt with under this Act,

and

(b) in all other respects, be dealt with as if it were a claim under section 77.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3)—

(a) the claim concerned shall be referred or brought to the Director, the Labour Court or the Circuit Court, as appropriate, and

(b) Part VII shall apply in relation to it, with the modification that sections 76 and 82 shall not apply in relation to a case referred to in paragraph (a)(i) of that subsection and with any other necessary modifications.

(5) A claim for redress under a repealed enactment which is pending on the commencement date shall, if the conduct to which it relates also occurs after that date, be treated as if it were a claim for redress to which this section applies, and accordingly subsections (3) and (4) shall apply in relation to it.

(6) A decision or determination on a claim for redress referred to in this section may, and at the request of the claimant shall, where appropriate, specify separate findings in relation to conduct before and after the commencement date.

(7) The Director or a person appointed under section 75(4)(a) to be an equality officer may exercise the powers of an equality officer under a repealed enactment.

(8) This section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the commencement date.”.

Commencement.

48. —This Act shall come into operation on such day as may be fixed by order made by the Minister, and different days may be so fixed for different provisions and for different purposes.