Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I suppose one of the key measures we took - it was a decision taken following on from both the programme for Government but also recognising that the need to central equality had enhanced following the publication of the report - is the review of the equality legislation that my Department initiated. It is a recognition that when, 20 years ago, we brought in the equal treatment Act and the Employment Equality Act, they were some of the most advanced pieces of legislation at the time. They have served us well but after 20 years, any piece of legislation needs examination.

Within the programme for Government, we identified two specific areas: the issue of the provision on gender, and particularly to ensure that trans persons were fully protected within this legislation; but also the issue of socioeconomic discrimination. We made a commitment to examine the latter within the context of this wide-ranging review.

We had a fairly lengthy call for public submissions on the issue. Many of the interested NGOs put forward detailed submissions and we are reviewing those at present. I will be bringing a report on that setting out the range of recommendations for reform of the equality legislation and we will set out a programme in which we think we can deliver those reforms.