Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, and the introduction of this legislation. It has already been passed by the Dáil and the Minister referred to some of the amendments made there. It is a long-awaited Bill. The Minister stressed the urgency with which it is being brought forward and some of us - clearly not all of us - hope it will be law before the summer. The members of the commission-designate are also very keen to have the legislation brought into force.

The Minister mentioned the key events to which the Government is committed, such as the marriage equality referendum in spring next year. It is vital that we have the statutory framework, such as that set out in the Bill, for a human rights body in advance of that referendum. It is extraordinary that Fianna Fáil is opposing it. In my innocence I had not realised it would take that view. It is particularly extraordinary given that party's history on this. Senator O'Donovan has kindly reminded us that some years ago, when the former Minister, former Deputy Dermot Ahern, made 43% cuts to the Equality Authority budget in 2008, I wrote at the time that a very quiet coup was taking place and that the Equality Authority was being undermined by the then Government.

Other Members have correctly paid tribute to Maurice Manning, the former president of the Human Rights Commission, but I wish to pay tribute to Niall Crowley, former director of the Equality Authority, who played a huge role in the promotion of equality issues, the protection of equality and in taking ground-breaking cases. I utterly reject my friend and colleague, Senator Conway's, critique of the Equality Authority in the Portmarnock Golf Club case. It is easy to dismiss that as a misguided case due to the outcome in the Supreme Court. Many of us disagree fundamentally with the reasoning in the Supreme Court judgment. It was not necessarily a predictable outcome and the authority was quite entitled to take that case.

I conducted a study with colleagues some years ago on gender discrimination in the legal profession. We found golf clubs to be significant sites of discrimination for women working in the legal professions. They were being excluded from golf outings and therefore excluded from the type of client-solicitor gatherings that would bring in money, enhance their reputation in the firm and so forth. It is easy just to dismiss golf clubs as elitist, and I agree with Senator Conway on that, but the action taken by the Equality Authority was not simply a populist act but an important one in terms of trying to promote the rights of women and their rights to be equal members in very influential and large institutions, such as that golf club.

To return to the Bill, it is vital that we move forward with the new merged body and ensure it can be as effective as possible in the protection and promotion of both equality and human rights. The justice committee has conducted hearings on the Bill and members of the commission-designate appeared before it. As Senator Zappone eloquently pointed out, it is hugely important to continue that strong interaction between the justice committee and the new merged entity. I am glad that aspects of the independence of the commission and of its links to the Oireachtas have been highlighted and strengthened in this Bill. The justice committee, on the initiative of Senator Zappone, is considering adding human rights to its title so it will have specific jurisdiction to deal with human rights issues as well as equality and justice issues.

We have received useful observations from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, and the human rights and equality commission-designate. I read them carefully in terms of trying to analyse the Bill and considering what aspects of it must be highlighted on Second, Committee and Report Stages. There are some key themes in the Bill. The first theme I wish to discuss is the definition of equality and human rights. I am glad there is no definition of equality in the Bill. It is appropriate that it is left undefined. I note the difficulties between the two definitions of human rights that have been highlighted by Senator Zappone and in the observations of the ICCL and the human rights and equality commission-designate. There is a narrow definition of human rights in section 29, in the part of the Bill dealing with enforcement and compliance. In some ways that is simply a practical issue. I am trying to get my head around it because-----