Supreme Court, on appeal from High Court, determines: (a) that the Equality Tribunal did not have jurisdiction in Irish law to determine whether the upper age limit of 35 for recruitment to An Garda Siochana was discrimination on the grounds of age, on the grounds that the limit had been fixed in secondary legislation, which the tribunal was not entitled to disregard; but (b) refers to the Court of Justice of the European Union the issue of whether the tribunal was required as a matter of European law to determine the issue, notwithstanding the legislation.
Clarke J (nem diss): Discrimination - age - maximum recruitment age for members of An Garda Siochana - whether Equality Tribunal had jurisdiction to entertain complaints - Garda Síochána (Admissions and Appointments) (Amendment) Regulations, 2014 (S.I. No. 749 of 2004) - maximum age determined by legislation rather than administrative decision - whether tribunal had exceeded its jurisdiction - Workplace Relations Commission Act, 2015 - whether tribunal had jurisdiction to deal with issue where relevant age was fixed by law - issue of both Irish law and European law - upper age limit of 35 years - complaints under Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2004 - Public Participation Directive (2003/35/EC) - equivalence and effectiveness - jurisdiction to decide jurisdiction.