Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth. I am delighted to have the opportunity to move forward with this legislation. This amendment seeks to replace the existing section 5 of the Bill. It responds to reasonable concerns that the Minister of State's office and Department raised about the previous version of this section, which looks to ensure we report on compliance regarding human rights. It referred to the European Convention on Human Rights and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014. There were concerns about the European Convention on Human Rights, the legislation attached to it, and the definitions of public authorities in that regard, as well as the fact that it is already legislated for. The essence of what I want to do with this section is to narrow it down by removing those references to the ECHR and focusing on what was the second part, but is now the only part of this section, which relates to compliance with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014. The requirement to reflect human rights and equality in procurement is already there. This amendment ensures that when we have reports on procurement, they report on the manner in which there was compliance with this and how it was reflected. Anything that encourages public authorities to consider and reflect on human rights and equality issues when they are designing procurement is important.

I will not go into the other sections of the Bill. We are not discussing them today and I know they will be discussed in the Dáil. I genuinely believe that we get far better economic advantage for the State by applying a price and quality approach rather than a lowest cost approach. Crucially, this is not just about the State and public authorities' expenditure. The impact of good or bad procurement practices is most felt by those who are using or relying on public services and the goods that the State purchases. If we get something that is shoddy or falls short, it is not just bad value but can have significant consequences.

One example that I imagine is still on people's minds is CervicalCheck and the Scally report, which clearly identified the failure to apply quality criteria. That contract was awarded on a price-only approach without quality criteria, when the right to health is so fundamental and the right to health for women was so significantly impacted by some of the consequences of that process. This is an example whereby thinking about the rights and equality not just of those involved in the procurement process but also of the end users and receivers of the services and goods is appropriate for public authorities. I believe this section will help to remind them to do it and make sure they report on how they do it. Maybe they will learn from each other in those reports so that those public authorities that apply best practice on this can, through the fact they are reporting on it, give encouragement to other local authorities to apply that public duty to equality and human rights more robustly.