§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what steps are being taken by Coleraine borough council to ensure that the current imbalances in employment practices are being rectified;
(2) what steps are being taken by the Fair Employment Commission to ensure that the current imbalances in employment practices in Coleraine borough council are being rectified.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyUnder Section 12 of the Fair Employment (NI) Act 1976 the Fair Employment Agency (now the commission) investigated Coleraine borough council in 1987. The report of the findings of this investigation is still unpublished but the commission has advised that the council accepted all its recommendations for action to ensure that equality of opportunity in employment is afforded, except for signing the declaration of principle and intent and the introduction of work force monitoring.
The council is specified as a public authority by the Fair Employment (Specification of Public Authorities) Order (NI) 1989 and is therefore deemed to be automatically registered with the Fair Employment Commission to which it will submit annual returns monitoring the religious composition of its work force. The council has indicated that following the introduction of the Fair Employment (NI) Act 1989 a system of monitoring has been introduced.