Vol. 537 No. 5
496 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the incident that a person (details supplied) in County Sligo has encountered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17076/01]
Iwas disturbed to learn of the very unpleasant incidents outlined in the letter written by the person referred to by the Deputy. On the basis of the contents of this letter, I would strongly urge the writer to report these incidents to the Garda Síochána to determine whether or not a criminal act occured.
With regard to the suggestion that an anti-racist component should be incorporated into the school curriculum, the Deputy will appreciate that this is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Woods, and I will arrange to have the letter under reference forwarded for his attention.
The Deputy will also be aware that last October the Government agreed to my proposal to implement a national anti-racism public awareness programme, with the overall aim of contributing to creating the conditions for building a more inclusive and intercultural society, in which racism is effectively addressed and cultural diversity valued. In February, I announced the composition of the high-level steering group to implement this programme, in partnership with the equality division of my Department, and work is proceeding apace.
The Government has also introduced comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, such as the Employment Equality Act, 1998, and the Equal Status Act, 2000, and agencies such as the Equality Authority and the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations have been set to investigate discrimination, including discrimination on racist grounds, in relation to employment and the provision of goods and services. Other bodies, such as the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, the Garda Racial and Intercultural Office and the Reception and Integration Agency, have also been established.
The NCCRI, in partnership with a range of non-government organisations, has organised a system of reporting racist incidents, and it encourages the victims of such incidents to do so. The purpose of this reporting system is to provide a profile of the number, type and location of incidents that are occurring and to identify emerging patterns.
