Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept that. It is not good enough to refer to a prism of which equality is one of the facets and then state that this will not be underwritten in the legislative framework relating to making the type of decisions to which the Minister refers. This makes a nonsense of the commitment in the programme for Government to take due note of equality and human rights. These are the benchmarks and standards which those in government set for themselves and I am of the view that they are the right ones. It is a case then of their talking the talk, but ultimately not making a difference by including the commitment to which I refer in the legislative framework. If all decisions are viewed through a prism of equality and human rights, then the Minister should have no difficulty in this being stated within the legislation. He initially indicated that equality and human rights are subjective in nature when it is clear they are not. In his most recent response, he conceded that the policy decisions the Government takes are subjective to some degree. I see the logic in that because they involve judgment calls. I am not challenging him in that regard. However, equality and human rights are not subjective in nature. They are measurable and they represent the standards which should apply in the decisions we make in respect of expenditure. In that context, the amendments I have tabled should have a place in the legislation.