Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (Kerry South, Labour)
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Question 95: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the recent annual report of the Equality Authority; the steps it is proposed to take to address the issues raised in the report, particularly the level of complaints against public bodies and the high number of complaints regarding racial discrimination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16321/04]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I was pleased to launch the annual report of the Equality Authority for 2003 on 19 May 2004 and to congratulate the authority on its continued work in successfully promoting equality of opportunity and the elimination of discrimination across the nine discriminatory grounds covered by the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equal Status Act 2000. As I stated on that occasion, the 2003 report illustrates the authority's impressive range of activity in anti-discrimination casework and its developmental work to promote a more equality conscious society. In particular, it was notable from casework reported that discrimination on the race and Traveller grounds featured strongly in the case files of the authority under both the Employment Equality and Equal Status Acts, and that a range of cases were taken on the basis of pregnancy related discrimination during this period.

While the authority has a role and power in regard to enforcement and initiatives to counteract cases of discrimination, its broader role in promoting equality in society is also one of its key strengths. In addition to providing information and advice to the public, the promotion of a wider understanding of key concepts such as reasonable accommodation of people with disabilities is a necessary and complementary component of its work. The authority also uses, to great effect, a partnership approach between trade unions, employers in both the public and private sectors, Departments and other relevant organisations and this is to be welcomed as a part of its consensus building approach to equality.

The Equality Authority has also been helpful in its input to the Equality Bill 2004, which amends the Employment Equality and Equal Status Acts, to give effect to EU equality directives and a number of procedural amendments. In this context, the 2003 report highlighted the incidence of discrimination against migrant workers employed in private households, and noted that section 37(5) of the Employment Equality Act excludes such employment from the scope of the Act. As a result of amendments to that Act proposed in the equality Bill, this exclusion is being replaced by a new provision which will be considerably more limited in scope and, importantly, will be confined to access to employment. As a result, persons in employment in private households will be brought within the protection of the Employment Equality Act.

With regard to other issues raised by the report, the level of complaints against public bodies is an issue of concern. However, public bodies are subject to the provisions of both the Employment Equality and Equal Status Acts. The authority, recognising the centrality of many public services to people's quality of life and given the significant engagement by the public sector with customers from across the nine grounds, focused on initiatives within this area and, in particular, on the provision of education and of health services. The focus of the work in the education area was on school practice at primary and post primary level with a number of initiatives taken, including the joint publication with the Department of Education and Science of a booklet entitled "Schools and the Equal Status Act". The strategy in the health sector emphasises the development of an equality infrastructure within health institutions. The equality infrastructure involves equality reviews, equality impact assessments, equality policies and equality training. A partnership was developed between the North Western Health Board and my Department to carry out an equal status review of a range of health board services. Initial work preparing a template for the review has been completed. The partnership approach taken with the Departments of Health and Science and Education in providing co-ordinated action to legal, developmental, research and communication areas in relation to equal status is building experience which can be further developed and applied to other areas of the public service.

The Sustaining Progress national agreement contained a new commitment to equality proofing. It committed to proofing of policies and services in the public sector to avoid unanticipated negative impact on any of the groups protected under the equality legislation, to ensure policy coherence and best use of resources. I am pleased to say that the authority has participated in the working group on equality proofing and has helped develop a range of projects to assist the working group. One initiative, currently being carried out under the aegis of the working group, is a research project into placing a statutory duty on public bodies to promote equality of opportunity, on the same basis as it exists in Northern Ireland. I await the outcome of this research with interest.

I have also noted the high number of complaints regarding racial discrimination which, in 2003, represented some 30% of the complaints received by the authority. Clearly, the increased racial diversity of our population in recent years is one factor behind this caseload. There is also some ground for optimism in that people are aware of, and confident to exercise, their right to equal treatment in the workplace and in the provision of goods and services. Tackling racism is very much on the Government's agenda. In March 2002, the consultative phase of the preparation of a national action plan against racism was launched. A steering group representative of Government, specialist bodies, other bodies and civil society was formed to assist in the development of the plan. I am pleased the authority was one of the specialist bodies represented on the steering group and brought to it the benefit of its wide experience in the area of racism. The consultative process, which consisted of a national consultative conference, written submissions and regional and thematic seminars, was completed in 2002. The report on the consultative process and a framework structure for the plan, "Diverse Voices", was published in 2003 and widely distributed. I expect the national plan will be put to Government for approval and publication in the coming months and will present an opportunity to both build upon and enhance existing policies and strategies to address racism in Ireland, and to identify new priorities, aspirations and areas of work that can be drawn together into an overall cohesive plan. I look forward to ongoing co-operation between my Department and the authority in the continuing fight against discrimination and the promotion of equality and diversity.