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

I want to inform the House about a small number of amendments to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Bill that were discussed and agreed in the Seanad. I propose to outline these amendments and the reasoning behind their acceptance. These are technical amendments which need to be made in two places – in section 10 and in the Long Title to the Bill - and to transpose into Irish law the EU Directive 2014/54/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on measures facilitating the exercise of rights conferred on workers in the context of freedom of movement for workers.

The substantive EU directive that eliminates discrimination against migrant EU workers is contained in an earlier EU regulation dating to 2011, Regulation (EU) No. 492/2011, which we have already fully transposed in our employment equality legislation. There is one new provision for us in this new directive, which is that the designated national body should act as a contact point vis-à-visother national bodies. The Equality Authority is the designated body for the purpose of the other EU equality related directives and is already part of the European network of equality bodies. This is not a new role in practice. However, it has not been referred to in legislation previously. Article 8 of the directive requires that the directive be referenced in national transposing legislation. All the other provisions of this directive have equivalents in our equality legislation and no new rights are created, so the opportunity is being taken to make this amendment to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Bill, which is all we need to do by way of legislation for the transposition to be complete. I recommend acceptance of the amendment.

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