FF proposes bill to protect gay teachers

Fianna Fáil has today published details of a bill which aims to provide greater protections to gay teachers.

The bill, which makes amendments to the Employment Equality Act, would mean that schools would no longer be allowed to discriminate against gay, lesbian and bisexual teachers.

As the law currently stands, a school could claim that hiring a gay teacher would undermine their religious ethos.

If the bill is enacted, schools will still be entitled to insist that staff members demonstrate respect towards their ethos and not actively seek to undermine it.

Fianna Fáil's Seanad Spokesperson on Education and Skills is Senator Avril Power who said, the Programme for Government contains a commitment to change the law but to date, the Government has not taken any steps to do so.