Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom an Dáil a chur ar athló faoi Bhun Ordú 32 chun déileáil le gné rí-thabhachtach seo, namely, the urgent need for the Government to respond to the Synthesis Report on equality bodies recently published by the European Commission, which was highly critical of the seven and eight year delays for some cases at the Equality Tribunal, attributed to inadequate resources and the decentralisation of the Equality Authority, which the report held impedes accessibility. While recognising that funding reductions are likely in the context of the economic downturn, it concluded that the 43% cut in the authority's funding in 2008 was one of just seven examples where the cuts imposed were disproportionate, amount to regression and diminish the effectiveness of the body. The report recommends that the Government "establish a clear and transparent process for calculating and attributing an adequate resource base to equality bodies and ensure that it cannot be reduced without clear rationale and broad and public debate".

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