Mr. Mark Kelly:

Obviously, the question of staffing and resources is crucial because through having a professional and expert staff this new body will be able to discharge its task effectively. Our starting point has been to look at the very steep reduction in resources which effectively has been imposed on the two existing bodies. One of the statistics that has struck us particularly is that where the Equality Authority is concerned, from the start of 2012 to the end of this year we anticipate there will have been a 75% reduction in staff. In fact, the current position is that only 11 or 12 staff are expected to transfer on a legacy basis to the new bodies. By any standards, that is manifestly adequate to discharge the existing functions. However, it is not just a question of discharging the existing functions because the heads of the Bill which the committee has previously considered clearly provide for some very interesting new functions. There will be a specific social cohesion function, including promoting the integration of migrants and encouraging good practice in intercultural relations, which we very much welcome. An exciting new public sector duty will be introduced and the new commission will have a role in supporting public bodies in breathing life into that public sector duty in order to more effectively mainstream human rights and equality considerations not just in law but also in the policy and practice of public sector bodies.

In her introduction Professor Mullally referred to two further areas that are very much on our radar. They are for the future, but they are also, in a sense, legacies of the past. In 2007 the Government did not ratify the two conventions Professor Mullally mentioned - the optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Both foresee the establishment of monitoring mechanisms at national level to give further effect to international work under these two conventions. Plainly there is potential for the new Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission to play a significant role in these national monitoring functions. It is now nearly eight years since the signature of the two conventions. As we look ahead, it is only prudent to predict that there will also be a staffing and capacity need for both.

I will ask Mr. Conaty to go into more detail on our thinking about the staffing issue and the level of need involved.