Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister. Before we move on, I would like to underline that the committee would appreciate the chance to engage in a full pre-legislative scrutiny of the equality legislation. There are very tight timelines on that now. Given that we are entering into a period of recess, the timelines do not keep running. I would stress the importance of this committee of having the full time - even if we have to go over the eight-weeks' timeline - to allow for full and proper pre-legislative scrutiny and engagement in that by the committee.

If we do have challenges in relation to workers' knowledge of their rights under the equality legislation, perhaps an information campaign is needed. This could be funded by the Department in conjunction with the trade unions. A joint project between the two could be very useful. Unless the Minister wants to respond to those points we can finish the meeting.