Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 6, line 29, to delete "Part 3" and substitute "sections 36to 39inclusive and section 41".

Apologies for being late. The Order of Business went a bit quicker than I expected.

The amendment relates to amendments of Part 3 of the Bill where a narrow definition of human rights is used, in terms of enforcement issues but also on a wide range of other functions of the human rights commission. The narrow definition would overly restrict the commission in carrying out its role. The amendment seeks to retain the narrow definition for sections 36 to 39, inclusive, and section 41 which relate to the enforcement role of the commission and to allow the broader definition of human rights, as contained in the Bill, to apply to such roles and functions as the providing of information to the public, the development of codes of practice, equality reviews, action plans and carrying out inquiries. This would be a better interpretation to use within the Bill and would allow the commission to work to its full capacity.

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