Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Section 42 places a positive duty on public bodies to have due regard to human rights and equality and reflects a commitment in the Government’s Programme for National Recovery 2011 to 2016, which states: "We will require all public bodies to take due note of equality and human rights in carrying out their functions". The commission will assist public bodies to comply with that positive duty, including by producing guidelines and codes of practice, which will be very helpful, as outlined in section 31. Those guidelines and codes of practice should lead, as they develop, to higher standards in all public bodies in the implementation of human rights and good practice.

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