Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after ''Seanad Éireann'' and substitute the following:

"notes that it is not the Government's intention that the Combat Poverty Agency will simply be absorbed into the Office for Social Inclusion in its existing form, but rather that a new strengthened division will be created that will make the best use of the considerable experience and expertise of the staff of both existing bodies and will seek to provide a stronger voice for those affected by poverty and social inclusion issues;

acknowledges that the very difficult budgetary situation resulting from the global economic crisis has led to necessary reductions in the budgetary allocations to a number of State bodies including, the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission;

welcomes the establishment of the Office of the Minister for Integration and the measures being taken in promoting interculturalism and tackling racism which are being resourced as core activities by that office;

welcomes the Government's commitment to work with the Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission to ensure they can fulfil their functions, secure economies in overhead costs and minimise the impact of cuts on core activities;

welcomes the 15% increase in the provision for the Equality Tribunal, which will enable it to tackle the backlog of cases before it;

recognises Ireland's strong record of highlighting human rights concerns internationally, including in regard to places such as the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Burma, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Tibet;

shares the Government's consistent and complete opposition to the practice of so-called 'extraordinary rendition' and notes the commitment in the programme for Government to 'ensure that all relevant legal instruments are used so that the practice of extraordinary rendition does not occur in this State in any form'; welcomes the creation of a Cabinet committee on aspects of international human rights to expedite the programme for Government commitments on extraordinary rendition; and welcomes the commitment of the new United States Administration to review US policy in this regard; and

welcomes the Government's strong and continuing commitment, both domestically and internationally, to the protection and enforcement of human rights.''

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and welcome the opportunity for a debate on the issue of human rights and the protection of human rights on both the domestic and international fronts. However, I also wish to put forward a counter-discussion in this regard and to acknowledge and reinforce the Government's strong and continuing commitment, both domestically and internationally, to the protection and enforcement of human rights. While I acknowledge the points raised in respect of the Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission, I also respect the point that the decision on the expenditure for 2009 was made having regard to the need for substantial savings. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has stated many times that his main priority in the justice sphere will be to tackle crime and, therefore, funding must reflect that priority. The announcement to integrate the administration and office facilities of the Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission made good sense and will go a long way towards reducing costs. Further savings will be realised by the completion of the transfer of staff to Roscrea.

Both bodies have been asked to reduce spending on consultants, advertising and promotional activities. The practice of publishing reports in glossy formats must cease and will result in significant savings and better efficiencies. I do not doubt this will be all that will be expected. It will be good because there was much loose money and abuses of spending. I will have no difficulty with this measure.