Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will just pick up on that final point. People have talked about how this issue relates to justice but I see it as one for this committee and the Department because it relates to equality. The Department, including but not limited to the Minister of State, has responsibility for ensuring equality on this particular issue and right across the board. It is the Department that should be responsible for working across all Departments to ensure that all policies are equality-proofed, whether they relate to matters of disability, social inclusion or race. The Department has a responsibility to ensure that all Departments take on the brief of equality. Many of the issues have been covered quite well. I will try not to go over some of them. I may comment briefly on some issues that have been covered but I will mostly try to move to new territory.

Could the Minister of State elaborate on how the comprehensive employment strategy is working at a practical level? Specifically, would he consider increasing the wage subsidy scheme? I will ask a few questions and then the Minister of State can come back in. I may then ask a few more questions if that is all right.

In the area of reform of the wards of court system, there has been some discussion regarding the Decision Support Service and the delay in implementing the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015. The points have been well made. It has been far too long. Even the timescales we are now looking at in respect of the service are absolutely unacceptable. That point has been addressed but are there other actions the Department intends to take to ensure the reform of the wards of court system?

On the optional protocol, could the Minister of State indicate the timeline again? With regard to a different optional protocol, the Minister of State has made some comments on the deprivation of liberty. Could he give us a sense of how he defines that? There is also an issue in respect of the Government's failure to ratify the optional protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, not that anybody is suggesting anything with respect to torture. That optional protocol relates to inspections of places where there is deprivation of liberty. That is quite salient. It is not only about people who are incarcerated, but those in any situations in which there is, broadly speaking, a deprivation of liberty. The optional protocol requires reporting on that. Will the Minister of State offer a view on his definition of the deprivation of liberty? Does he believe that the Government should ratify the optional protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment?