Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The written statement that we have is slightly different to the statement that the Minister made at the outset. In that written statement, he stated that he planned to examine the possibility of including a new discrimination ground of socioeconomic status in equality legislation. I have advocated on this issue for many years and am concerned by the weakness of that commitment, in light of all the work and advocacy that has been conducted, particularly by the Minister's Department. The issue has been the subject of reports from the Department of Justice since as far back as 2004 under the then Minister, Michael McDowell. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan introduced a Private Members' Bill on the issue in 2017, in response to which the then Minister of State with responsibility for equality, immigration and integration, Deputy David Stanton, committed to undertaking extensive research that was scheduled to conclude this year. At some point, we need to move from examining the possibilities to acting on the inclusion of socioeconomic status in our equality legislation. Will the Minister give me some sort of a timeline for when he intends to bring a memo to the Cabinet on the issue and when he will be submitting legislation to this committee for pre-legislative scrutiny?

Many questions have already been asked and answered about the mother and baby home legislation and the role that this committee will play. I have two questions about that, the first of which relates to the application of GDPR and whether the Minister will be engaging an independent legal expert to advise on its application, in light of the problems with his Department's legal advice so far. He has stated several times that the report will be published as soon as possible but we need to come up with some less vague terms for people who are texting me every day. For some people "as soon as possible" would mean a week and to others it would mean six months. The Department needs to look at expressing a maximum amount of time that people can expect to be waiting. Some people are worried that it will not happen until early next year. Giving a minimum and maximum timescale might be advisable, rather than a particular date which I know is impossible to give now. A suggestion as to how long it will take would be a help to people who are anxious.

I wish also to ask about the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture, OPCAT, which requires the State to allow for independent inspections of all deprivation of liberty settings. As the Minister knows, Ireland is preparing to ratify the protocol. Can he provide an update on when he expects that ratification to be completed? Is it his intention to have direct provision centres included in the inspection regime under OPCAT?

Will the Minister comment on the many concerns that have recently been raised about the role of Ruhama in a direct provision centre? People are obviously concerned about the history of Ruhama and the fact that it stemmed from a religious order that was involved in the Magdalen laundries. It would be great if the Minister would also comment on that matter.