Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Equal Status (Amendment) Bill which will create a legal onus on public bodies to conduct a socio-economic equality impact assessment on measures undertaken by them while, at the same time, charging them with the responsibility of developing an equality scheme to underpin the work of that body. Fianna Fáil broadly supports the goals of this legislation and is proud of its record in the area of equality. We believe in true republicanism which is based on equality, liberty and fraternity.

The ground-breaking Equal Status Act, initiated by Fianna Fáil, came into effect in October 2000. This Act protects against discrimination outside the field of employment and prohibits discrimination in the supply of goods and services, facilities, accommodation and education on nine distinct grounds, including sexual orientation, gender, civil status, family status, age, race, religion, disability or membership of the Traveller community. The Equality Authority is an independent body set up under the Employment Equality Act 1998 with the objective of overseeing the mechanics of the State to ensure a greater level of equality on a number of grounds.

In recent months, my colleague, Senator Averil Power, introduced the Employment Equality (Amendment) Bill in the Seanad which would ensure teachers could not be dismissed from a religious run school based on their sexual orientation. I think Sinn Féin supported that Bill in the Seanad. It was disappointing the Government did not accept it but I hope it will do so in time.

We have a number of concerns in regard to this legislation which stem from the administrative burden it could place on overstretched public bodies. In our capacity as public representatives, we deal with a whole a range of public bodies and officials, some of whom are burned out and overstretched. We have seen a reduction in the number of personnel working in these bodies and in the resources going to these organisations. That said, and bearing in mind the administrative burden this additional work could place on staff and the scarce resources of public bodies, the broader goal of securing enhanced equality of opportunity is an important political goal. The principles of equality must be at the core of public policy and our goals of achieving a fairer society.

The need for the guiding principle of equality at the heart of public policy has been clearly illustrated in the budgetary policies pursued by this Government which have had a deeply regressive impact on our society. An ESRI article stated that from looking at the impact of the 2012 budget, it is clear the greatest reduction in income is for those on the lowest incomes and that a fall of between 2% and 2.5% for the poorest 40% of households compares with a fall of close to 1% for the next 40% of households and a fall of 0.8% for the top 20% of households. That is not Fianna Fáil, members of the Technical Group or any other party in this House saying it. It was stated by an independent body, the ESRI. That is a disgraceful indictment of the budgetary policies being pursued by this Government.

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