(1) With regard to employment in the Garda Síochána or the prison service and without prejudice to section 25, nothing in this Act -
(a) applies to the assignment of a man or, as the case may require, a woman to a particular post where this is essential -
(i) in the interests of privacy or decency,
(ii) in order to guard, escort or control violent individuals or quell riots or violent disturbances, or
(iii) in order, within the Garda Síochána, to disarm or arrest violent individuals, to control or disperse violent crowds or to effect the rescue of hostages or other persons held unlawfully, or
(b) prevents the application of one criterion as to height for men and another for women, if the criteria chosen are such that the proportion of women in the State likely to meet the criterion for women is approximately the same as the proportion of men in the State likely to meet the criterion for men.
(a) If -
(i) in the opinion of the Minister there are insufficient numbers of either me
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