Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That finishes our round of questions. I have one question and Professor O'Hagan will be glad to hear it is a fairly concise one. It relates to a matter that arose in our previous session which dealt specifically with recommendation 44. The citizens' assembly recommended that the Government legislate for equality budgeting across all Government bodies, including local authorities. We had some discussion about whether legislation is necessary to embed equality budgeting or whether it is just as effective, efficient, meaningful or impactful to do it without the basis of any statutory framework. What is the experience in Scotland? Professor O'Hagan described it as a broad, ambitious recommendation which replicates similar reach in other nations. Was there legislation in Scotland to underpin the process or has Scotland found that it is not needed? That is the key question.

Do we need legislation to do this?