The chairman of the Dáil's justice committee, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, has called on the State Claims Agency to release a detailed breakdown of all sexual harassment claims made against individual public sector bodies.
It follows refusal by the State Claims Agency to publish a detailed breakdown of all the sexual harassment claims and settlements it handles on behalf of the State.
Responding to a request from RTÉ's This Week programme, the State Claims Agency said that its remit included the management of personal injury claims against State bodies, including those "relating to sexual harassment in the workplace that involve personal injury".
However, it said it would not give a sectoral breakdown of claims, saying it could affect the defence of sexual harassment claims and confidentiality issues.
"The State Claims Agency publishes aggregate information on specific categories of claim where it is possible to do so without affecting the State's ability to defend claims or its ability to adhere to confidentiality requirements. It is not in a position to publish such information in respect of this (sexual harassment) category," the agency said in a written statement.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, Mr Ó Caoláin said he would be calling on the State Claims Agency to provide the figures, which he said had the potential to provide a valuable insight into whether there were concerns in specific public sector bodies.
"I don't think it's fanciful to suggest that the State Claims Agency is a repository of what I would believe to be crucial information regarding the instances of despicable behaviour by some within our public service," he said.
"The release of the statistical information on such cases by the State Claims Agency would shine a light most certainly on at least the reported incidents across the public sector and might also highlight where there are particular areas of concern warranting systemic address," Mr O'Caomhlain said.
"As chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality, I will be requesting my colleague members of the committee to support my view that the Minister for Justice and Equality should seek the State Claims Agency's cooperation in releasing the relevant information."
Meanwhile, barrister and employment law expert Claire Bruton said that she could see no reason why the State Claims Agency could not release the specific data on sexual harassment claims within the public sector, once the agency anonymised the individual cases and did not identify any affected persons.
The vast majority of claims taken across the country's workforce, via the Workplace Relations Commission and Labour Court, are reported anonymously and without reference to the specific employer or employee's details.
Ms Bruton, who is also editor of the Employment Law Journal, told the This Week programme that in her experience, confidentiality agreements were a common feature once settlements in sexual harassment cases had been reached here.
She said that while they did not prevent an employee from going to gardaí if the alleged abuse warranted it, such non-disclosure agreements could prevent the alleged victim from repeating claims about their experience within a place of employment or elsewhere, on pain of a financial penalty.
