Ms Geraldine McGahey:

I thank the committee for the invitation to attend today. We are delighted to give evidence at today's session and for the opportunity to brief the committee in the context of our joint oversight work and the roles we have in relation to the UK Government's commitment under Article 2 of the Ireland-Northern Ireland protocol.

I will start by briefly outlining what this commitment means and then I will provide an overview of the roles and responsibilities of the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, as that dedicated mechanism. I will conclude by providing the committee with a short update on our all-island work to date.

Committee members can find further information on these matters in the brief that was sent by the three commissions last Friday. I will start first with what the UK Government's commitment means under Article 2 of the protocol. The UK Government has committed that as a result of Brexit, there will be no reduction in the protections currently in place in Northern Ireland regarding the rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity provisions as set out in the chapter of the same name in the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement. This chapter contains a range of rights, including for example, the right to equal opportunity in all social and economic activity, regardless of class, creed, disability, gender or ethnicity. Some of these rights in the agreement are underpinned by EU anti-discrimination laws, which protect against discrimination on a range of grounds such as gender, race, disability, religion or belief, age, sex and sexual orientation and which promotes equal treatment. There are also other EU laws which are relevant to the protection of these rights such as the EU laws on parental leave, the rights of victims and pregnant workers, as well as specific measures aimed at protecting the rights of disabled people. The commitment means that neither the Northern Ireland Assembly nor the Northern Ireland Executive can act in a way that is incompatible with the Article 2 commitment.

The UK Government also committed in the protocol to ensure that certain equality laws in Northern Ireland will keep pace with any future changes in EU law that may refer to the equality laws that are set out in Annex 1 to the protocol.

As regards the role and remit of the dedicated mechanism from 1 January, the three commissions have additional powers and responsibilities to ensure the UK Government meets its commitment under Article 2. We have new duties and powers to provide advice to the Government, to monitor, supervise, enforce and report on the ongoing implementation of the UK Government’s commitment. For example, in addition to monitoring how the commitment is being implemented and reported on in its implementation, we are tasked with advising the Northern Ireland Assembly and its committees on whether a Bill is compatible with the commitment. The commissions have also been given significant enforcement powers. For example, we can bring or intervene in legal proceedings in respect of an alleged breach of the commitment. We can also support individuals in relevant legal proceedings if they believe that their equality or human rights have been reduced as a result of Brexit.

In terms of our progress to date, the commissions have already undertaken a wide range of work. We have proactively undertaken a series of joint stakeholder engagements, including with a range of equality and human rights stakeholders, as well as the Executive office and other departmental officials, the EU delegation to the UK, Northern Ireland Office officials, the Labour Relations Agency, trade unions and the independent monitoring authority.

We are also planning research work on Assembly and parliamentary scrutiny mechanisms that are linked to Article 2. We are planning to commission some research on the impact of Brexit on equality groups in Northern Ireland, including the potential impact of the loss of EU funding. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is also planning to commission research on immigration and healthcare.

In terms of our legal work, we have progressed important work to examine the scope of Article 2, including identifying EU law and EU-derived rights that could potentially fall within the scope of Article 2. We have also started tracking and monitoring domestic and EU legislation in order to ascertain whether they have any potential impact on Article 2.

We consider it vitally important that people and groups are both aware of and understand what their new rights mean. As part of our awareness-raising programme, we have recently produced a short video and a number of accessible user-friendly publications explaining about equality and human rights after Brexit, the role of the dedicated mechanism and how individuals can make a legal challenge if they consider that their rights have been breached.

We are also planning further promotional work over the coming months.

I should also state that all three commissions have made regular briefings to the Committee for the Executive Office at Stormont. The Equality Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission have jointly engaged with the Northern Ireland Assembly's ad hoccommittee on a bill of rights, including on the implications of Brexit on equality and human rights, particularly in the context of a bill of rights.

As Ms Gibney has mentioned, both commissions are working closely with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission as part of our scrutiny role on rights and equality issues within the scope of the UK Government's commitment that have an island-of-Ireland dimension. The three commissions have established a working group to take forward this role. We have recently agreed a memorandum of understanding for progressing this important work. The working group comprises the three chief commissioners, a commissioner from each of the organisations, as well as the respective chief executives. The working group meets quarterly and the secretariat role is rotated annually.

Most recently, last Tuesday, working with the Centre for Cross Border Studies, the commissions ran an event focusing on cross-Border issues. We heard from a range of civil society and community groups about the issues and concerns affecting their Border communities. These included concerns about the impact of Brexit on women's rights and protections and the rights of Roma and Traveller communities on the island of Ireland. Issue were also raised about cross-Border healthcare, including the recognition of the registration of healthcare professionals, as well as the need for the rural-proofing and Border-proofing of policies by governments and agencies and the potential impact of the loss of EU funding on rural and cross-Border communities. All three commissions found this session very useful and we will use the evidence to inform our future work. Indeed, we look forward to developing and strengthening these relationships with civil society groups going forward.

Since acquiring our new roles and duties at the start of January 2021, the commissions have been working very closely and in partnership across a wide range of areas. We are also engaging with Departments and advice-giving organisations as part of our overall work to ensure equality and human rights continue to be protected and areas with an all-island dimension are addressed after Brexit.

I thank the members for their time. I will hand over to Mr. Allamby, who will brief the committee on the citizens' rights issues.