Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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264. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the way his Department and public bodies and agencies under his remit fulfil their obligations under section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34857/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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All public bodies in Ireland have responsibility, under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014 to eliminate discrimination, promote equality of opportunity, and protect the human rights of their employees, customers, service users and everyone affected by their policies and plans.

In 2017, my Department's Statement of Strategy, in accordance with section 42 of the Act, first identified the business areas most pertinent to equality and human rights considerations. The areas identified included the provision of housing for people with disabilities and the provision of housing for Travellers.

In April of this year my Department published its most recent Statement of Strategy and building on previous commitments has outlined further areas to which equality considerations apply including accessibility and universal design; accessibility for elections; and the accommodation needs of older people. The Statement also outlines the plans and policies to address these areas and is available at:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/9a047-statement-of-strategy-2021-2025/.

My Department is committed to ensuring that there is a culture of respect for human rights and equality matters. It participates in a number of inter-Departmental implementation groups and has actions or made commitments under national policies and strategies such as the National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021; the National Traveller and Roma Integration Strategy 2017-2021; and the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy 2019-2021.

My Department does not maintain the requested information in respect of the State bodies under its aegis. These bodies may be contacted directly by e-mail by members of the Oireachtas, as set out in the attached table.