Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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1303. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps her Department is taking to ensure the implementation of the public sector equality and human rights duty in the operation of her Department and any related state bodies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44243/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, all public bodies have responsibility to eliminate discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and treatment and protect the human rights of staff and service users. This is a legal obligation, called the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty, and it is provided for in Section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014.

Alongside the obligations provided for in the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014, it should be noted that the work of my Department in the area of Human Rights and Equality has also been guided by a number of international Covenants, Conventions and Reports to which the State is a signatory and/or is subject to, and the Department regularly reports on the status and progress of relevant actions covered in such agreements. These include:

• UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR);
• UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD);
• UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW);
• UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD);
• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
• UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); and
• EU European Child Guarantee

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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1304. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps her Department is taking to ensure the implementation of the public sector equality and human rights duty in the public procurement practices of her Department and any related state bodies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44247/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My department’s procurement practices are designed to adhere to the Office of Government Procurement’s (OGP) “Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services” which contain considerable guidance on the importance of Strategic Procurement which encourages public bodies to take account of Social, Innovation and Environmental Considerations in its procurements. Furthermore, my department avails of OGP frameworks wherever possible which, having been established by the OGP, are assumed to implement the public sector equality and human rights duty. My department is also currently working to develop further training resources in line with the recently published Circular 17/2025 to encourage the use of socially responsible public procurement in its procurements which should further embed the implementation of the public sector and human rights duty in my department’s public procurement practices.

The information in respect of state bodies under the aegis, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my department. State bodies have been provided with the question and have been advised to respond directly to the Deputy.