Ms Geraldine McGahey:

Good afternoon everyone and I thank the committee for the invitation speak. As Ms Gibney said, the committee will be aware that Europe has played a key role in strengthening and shaping equality rights in Northern Ireland. Prior to Brexit, all three jurisdictions: Northern Ireland, Ireland and Great Britain, had to adhere to the same EU equality laws. In effect, common standard was followed by all of us.

This was vital because since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, no equality law has been implemented in Northern Ireland as a result of Assembly legislation initiated by the Executive, although, on foot of a Private Members' Bill, we do have some changes coming forward, for which the commission has been calling for quite some time, with regard to the exception of teachers from our fair employment legislation.

Northern Ireland has already fallen behind both Ireland and other parts of the UK in terms of some equality protections. Our protections must not be allowed to fall further adrift from our nearest neighbours. We must take action to make sure these are addressed.

A survey we commissioned in Northern Ireland last year showed that 42% of people who responded felt that their rights had already been reduced because of Brexit. There are some very specific areas where there is the potential for equality and human rights to diverge on the island of Ireland either because of EU laws introduced post Brexit or EU laws that may be introduced in the future.

The Equality Commission and Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission are calling for changes to Northern Ireland laws in areas that change where they strengthen rights and align with international human rights best practice to avoid a divergence of rights across the entire island. One specific area is that of introducing new protections against age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services, an example of which is healthcare. Unlike Great Britain and Ireland, in Northern Ireland, there is no protection against age discrimination outside the field of employment and training. There is also a draft EU directive that would prohibit such discrimination if it were to be introduced.

Another area relates to gender pay transparency. Again, unlike Great Britain and Ireland, in Northern Ireland, there are no gender pay gap reporting requirements on employers. In April this year, the European Council adopted the EU pay transparency directive, which aims to strengthen pay transparency and eliminate gender-based pay discrimination, including by introducing gender pay gap reporting for certain employers, to which Ms Gibney already made reference.

Proposed EU directives outlined in binding standards for equality bodies, which were published by the European Commission last December, would, if introduced in Northern Ireland, be of value to people there seeking redress against discrimination. Our view is that these proposed directives, if introduced, would amend several annex 1 equality directives and, therefore, the UK Government is required to make changes to Northern Ireland equality law to reflect those directives.

Similarly, the EU Accessibility Act 2019 aims to benefit people with disabilities and older people, including through providing more accessible products and services. The EU directive on work-life balance for parents and carers, for example, aims to improve access to family leave and flexible working arrangements. Both of these have already been adopted by the EU but post Brexit the UK is not required to transpose them into domestic law. We are calling for steps to be taken to ensure that Northern Ireland law voluntarily aligns with the provisions of the Act and the directive that enhances these protections.

In addition to these EU law developments, we have also set out measures that we consider the Northern Ireland Executive and relevant Departments can take to ensure that Northern Ireland law keeps pace with evolving Court of Justice of the European Union case law post Brexit relating to the annex 1 equality directives, including, for example, making changes to equality laws so as to strengthen rights for disabled people. We consider that strengthening rights in these areas will make a substantial difference to the day-to-day lives of many equality groups in Northern Ireland, including older people, women, parents and carers and disabled people.

On 8 June, we published our research paper, Impact of Brexit on Minority Ethnic and Migrant People in Northern Ireland. This important research found that people from these groups who participated in the research said racism was a normal part of their daily lives and that there was a widespread perception that Brexit had led to an increase in the expression of racism. This is backed up by what we learned at a series of face-to-face sessions with minority ethnic and migrant people and their support organisations.

In terms of some of the cross-Border issues highlighted in our research, concerns raised included racial profiling at the Border as well as the impact of Brexit on cross-Border workers. As regards workers, this included concerns about the lack of information and support available in relation to applying for the cross-Border permit scheme and ramifications of that for those workers.

In conclusion, it is vital that, post Brexit, the equality and human rights of everyone who lives or works in Northern Ireland do not continue to fall behind those in Great Britain and Ireland. We are calling on the UK Government, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive to act on our recommendations. We have a clear vision of ensuring that equality and human rights are protected and promoted in Northern Ireland, a vision that reflects that equality was at the very heart of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.