Mr. Richard Keane:

I do not wish to lose focus but, as I understand it, there is a great deal of research on environmental sustainability, including a climate change Bill. In response to Deputy Kitt's comments, while a legislative approach is probably warranted, how far or how minimal it goes then becomes an issue. At a meeting I attended last Monday a speaker from the Scottish equivalent of the HSE referred to that agency having a positive duty to equality-proof all of its services, in respect of which he listed a number of actions. I have not heard of this being done here, even though we have had a pioneering Equality Authority. It seems to me that the authority's agenda here has been nobbled for the past decade. We have lost track a little.

Reference was made to data. There is specialist knowledge available from the former Equality Authority CEO, Niall Crowley, the great think-tank TASC, and NERI, which has produced assessments of the budgets. It is not that we cannot reach out to resources, know-how and skills that are located close to this building. In my view, legislation is needed to underpin the fact that the Government has a positive duty in this area. This means that when questions arise, which undoubtedly will come from the Department of Finance, in regard to feasibility, cost and so on, members can point to the research from Wilkinson and Pickett which states that egalitarian societies are more cohesive societies. When there is a cost-benefit analysis, we all win. Empirical data and research are available.

I welcome the opportunity presented by this meeting to tease out all of these aspects. The committee has a duty to make the same recommendation that was made by Deputies Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Joanna Tuffy at another committee. It appears to be in the zeitgeist that there is something about income and equality that needs to be addressed, and this is one way we can address it, given that the wheels of government grind very slowly.