Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy raised these issues on Second Stage and he is mistaken in the presentation he makes. The intended effect of the amendments he is proposing is to bring the merger of the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission to an end. It will not surprise Deputies when I say that I am opposing these amendments.

The text in amendment No. 3 is technically inappropriate for legislation. If the Government were to take forward actions on the lines suggested, these would either be matters for policy and allocation of resources or otherwise issues that would need to be addressed in legislation. One does not put into legislation that the Government should bring forward proposals that may require legislation. Instead, one just gets on with implementing the policy programme of the Government of the day and, where this requires legislation, such legislation is brought forward in the ordinary course of events when it is ready.

In this case we are merging the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission. I consulted the then Northern Ireland Secretary of State at around the time this proposal was announced. I assure the committee there are no adverse implications for our commitments under the Good Friday Agreement or for our relationship with Northern Ireland.

The equivalence of protection relates to substantive human rights law and not to questions of institutional structures which will always operate differently in different jurisdictions. Our body of human rights law, under our Constitution, is at least equivalent to that which exists in Northern Ireland. The amendment proposed in that regard is devoid of substance.

The merger will create a body that is, as I have said on previous occasions, greater than the sum of its parts and that will be better equipped by this Bill, once enacted, and with the additional staff and financial resources that I have been able to secure in 2014, to protect both human rights and equality rights in a cohesive way.