Mr. Michael O'Neill:

An equality review basically involves inviting a local authority to measure or audit itself against its equality obligations. I hear the point the Deputy is making in the context of Part 8. It is something that has been identified within the context of equality reviews but as Mr. McCann already said, that is the law as it stands. What we are really talking about in the context of the equality review is asking local authorities to benchmark themselves against their existing equality obligations and how they might improve the situation in that context. That is just one aspect of how to challenge this issue. It is such a huge issue and challenge that it will take a multilayered approach, including national politicians considering issues relating to amendments of the law in the context of the expert review group, local politicians and also individual officers within local authorities.

In the context of an equality review, many of the recommendations are steps that could be taken today. While they would not necessarily resolve all of the issues, they would improve the situation, certainly with regard to some of the issues with planning, training and ensuring the commitment to draw down certain amounts of money is seen through beyond the other restrictions that exist in the context of Part 8 and beyond.