Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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145. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the extent to which his Department continues to influence equality issues throughout the public and private sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6258/21]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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151. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the actions taken or proposed by his Department to address issues of inequality in the workplace or in the social context; the extent to which directions have been issued in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6266/21]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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152. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of incidences of prejudice or inequality his attention has been drawn to in the course of the past twelve months; the actions taken or proposed in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6267/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 145, 151 and 152 together.

Significant advances have been made in recent years to address inequality in Irish society, with the Government’s commitment to fostering a diverse, inclusive and equal society re-affirmed through the Programme for Government commitments to achieve social solidarity, equality of opportunity and economic equity for all.  

The suite of national equality strategies, overseen and coordinated by my Department, act as the central policy framework adopted by Government to address inequality across Irish society. The strategies include the National Strategy for Women and Girls (NSWG), the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS), the Migrant Integration Strategy (MIS), the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS), the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy, the National LGBTI+ Strategy for Youth and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (CES).  

The implementation of each equality strategy is overseen by a steering committee which draws together State and non-State actors to deliver a better quality of life for all through targeted actions to promote social inclusion and improved access to public services. I chair the meetings of the committees charged with the monitoring and oversight of the strategies, with the exception of the national disability inclusion strategy steering group which is chaired by my colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Anne Rabbitte, and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities which is chaired by Fergus Finlay. As some of these strategies near their conclusion, I will work with stakeholders to examine what has been achieved over their term and how we can bring forth the next iterations of those strategies and ensure they are even more effective.   

The Programme for Government also contains a commitment to examine the introduction of a new ground of discrimination, based on socio-economic disadvantaged status, to the Employment Equality and Equal Status Acts. Research is being undertaken at present and, following receipt of this, I hope to undertake a wider public consultation on potentially amending the Equality Acts to include a socio-economic ground for discrimination. In addition, I also intend to conduct a further and broader review of the Equality Acts.

The role of monitoring the prevalence of discrimination and prejudice in Irish society is undertaken by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) which is Ireland’s national human rights and equality institution and is an independent public body that accounts directly to the Oireachtas. Its purpose is to promote and protect human rights and equality in Ireland and build a culture of respect for human rights, equality and intercultural understanding in the State. In mid-October 2020 the transfer took place of the Governance function of IHREC from the Department of Justice and Equality to my Department. IHREC is an independent body which publishes reports on an annual basis outlining cases relating to discrimination in which legal advice and/or representation was provided by IHREC.  It also produces research setting out experiences of discrimination experienced on the grounds encompassed by the equality legislation.    

My Department is also represented on committees at the EU and Council of Europe and at the UN and information gathered from those fora informs the continuing work of my Department.