Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I accept some of the points, but I note that equality and human rights have not been specified in section 7. Again, that is an area where I have indicated an intention to table an amendment. I acknowledge that I have had constructive engagement with the officials in the Department on the matter. It would be appropriate for equality and human rights to be referenced because it is not a matter of it just being in the code; it is important that it is in taken into account in the preparation of the codes.

The Minister mentioned a culture within organisations, but one of the problems that has been recognised in terms of section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act is that some Departments and public bodies believe that it simply applies to them internally in terms of their internal equality or human rights policies rather than as it does to them in the performance of all their functions and what they do in the world. The reason I seek to copper-fasten it is because there is a gap and an uneven understanding of the public duty on equality and human rights. I do accept that if it was addressed properly in section 7, which is an issue I have discussed with the officials, that it could be a potential way of dealing with it. It may not be necessary to name the Act, but it might be useful to refer to the principles of equality and human rights being properly reflected in the section.

One of the ways I have sought to address the issue in respect of my procurement legislation recently is that because I could not create a new legal obligation because, as the Minister rightly says, it is already there in terms of section 42 of the IHREC Act, but what I could provide, and which was within appropriate bounds, was that there would be a reporting on how that had been reflected. Again, that was around a culture shift within procurement. I am not creating it as a new obligation, because it is an obligation, but I was requiring that it would be reported on and that requires some element of reflection on it within a public body.

It is a strange ruling on reports, but I accept it is not the fault of the Minister. Some concerning decisions have been made on amendments in relation to issues being included in reports being found to be out of order. That is wrong and it is an issue for us to tackle in the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, CPP. In the interim, while that issue is being resolved within the CPP, when I engaged with the officials my understanding is that where I might be constrained in tabling amendments is in terms of reporting, but that might be an area where the Minister could table an amendment to make sure that when a body reports on what it has been up to that it reports on that matter as well.

There may be two ways that it could be tackled, for instance in section 7, in terms of powers and functions, as the Minister outlined, but perhaps also in terms of reporting, so that it is not just there in the picture but in how the commission thinks about itself, and that would embed it that little bit more. In the context of the constructive engagement I have had with the Minister's officials in respect of section 7, and in the hope that we might have constructive engagement around the issue of reporting, I will not press the amendment.