Dr. Aideen Hartney:

We will take the opportunity to reiterate the areas where we would like to see further focus, in particular civil legal aid and the section 14 exemptions. Also, there is a provision for a positive action allowed for in the general scheme but if that could be extended to prospective employees, it would be another area worth looking at. We echo the IHREC's call for approval of the code of practice on reasonable accommodations because we think it would be very useful to have, given our own work.

While we recognise the calls for areas to be addressed and gaps to be closed in the legislation, we feel that it is going in a positive direction. Some of the policy gaps or the delays that have been referred to come from a tendency to aim for the perfect, and if that is not achievable, then progress gets stalled. The committee should not lose sight of that in its deliberations.