Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Great stuff. I just want to touch on the equality budget and that overarching strategy or set of goals. Is what we have at the moment effective for actually capturing the data that we need? Any legislation needs to be based on what is most beneficial to society, and that comes from having real quantitative data.

In terms of the interdepartmental group on equality budgeting, are all Departments represented on that group? Are members accountable for implementing equality budgeting? Is there a set of goals set for strategic implementation? If there is, how are they measured?

Has the Department looked at other countries or jurisdictions where this is done much more effectively than is the case here at present? If so, which countries has it looked at? If it has not done so, why is that the case?