Mr. Liam Herrick:

There has been no direct increase. Under the recent budget, the overall budget of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has been increased for 2026, which we greatly welcome. As part of the Estimates process, we made the case that there needs to be a ring-fenced provision for this particular mandate. However, there has not been such dedicated and ring-fenced funding, which we understand is also the case for the other identified Article 77 bodies. Our view is that the combined mandate under Article 77 and the EU directive on standards for equality bodies clearly requires bodies designated for this function to be given technical and financial capacity, in particular, to execute it effectively.