Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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On 1st May 2008 a policy statement, Migration Nation, outlining the policy approach to integration was published. Following on from that a number of arrangements are in place with local authorities and national sporting bodies to assist with addressing anti-racism and promoting integration. In 2009, funding in the amount of €430,000 was made available to sporting bodies and close to €1m was made available to local authorities and I hope to continue funding of this kind subject to the availability of resources. In addition my Office has provided funding of over €1.5 million to other initiatives and programmes such as the Resettlement of Programme Refugees, the Holocaust Educational Trust and Show Racism the Red Card. Funding is also available through the European Refugee Fund and the European Social Fund for measures to promote integration.My Office has also compiled and submitted Ireland's Joint Third and Fourth Report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. This report details the measures that have been taken in recent years to address anti-racism and to promote integration. This report is available on my Office's website - www.integration.ie. I will shortly establish a Ministerial Council on Integration. This Council will be largely drawn from the migrant community in this country. Such a Council, I believe, will further enhance integration in Ireland.

In order to tackle racist behaviour and to promote integration in our schools, a number of initiatives are taking place. The Board of Management of each school is required to prepare a code of behaviour in accordance with Section 23 of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000. Each school must have in place a policy which includes specific measures to deal with bullying behaviour, within the framework of an overall school code of behaviour and discipline. Such a code, developed through consultation with the whole school community and properly implemented, can be the most influential measure in countering bullying behaviour in schools. Research shows that in many schools codes of behaviour explicitly deal with racial harassment.

Furthermore, the "Intercultural Education Guidelines" for primary and post-primary schools developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and made available to all schools aim to promote equality and human rights, challenge unfair discrimination and promote the values on which equality is built. A national intercultural education strategy is being finalised and is expected to be launched in the near future. This will deal with intercultural education right across the education spectrum including at school level. It will set out a policy framework for the field of intercultural education.