Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

Enhancing equality and social development is central to the work of my Department, including, for instance, in the areas of housing and community development. The Department has a strong commitment to evidence-based policy formulation and uses the full range of tools and techniques to assess the impacts of policies and programmes at all stages of decision-making and legislative development.

It is a fundamental requirement that policy decisions must not contravene equality, anti-discrimination and human rights law. All legislative proposals are carefully scrutinised for compliance with this code. There is also public consultation and engagement with equality interests where relevant in development of policy and legislation. Regulatory impact analysis is undertaken for all key new legislative proposals and includes an assessment of impacts on equality under a range of headings as part of a comprehensive review of all potential impacts to ensure policy coherence.

Any changes to the current systems for equality-proofing of legislation and policy initiatives are best approached on a whole-of-Government basis. I remain committed to ensuring future policy initiatives and legislation developed by my Department enhance rather than detract from equality in our society and for citizens.

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