I propose to take Questions Nos. 546 and 547 together.
The information requested regarding the bodies under the aegis of my Department is set out below.
Office of Public Works (OPW)
In the performance of its functions, and in accordance with the requirements of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014, the Office of Public Works has regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity and treatment, and to protect the human rights of its staff, clients and visitors. The mechanisms used by the Office for meeting its public sector duty of care in these matters include:
- Implementation of the requirements for equality of access as set out in the Disability Act 2005;
- Implementation of a bespoke Quality Customer Service Charter and Action Plan designed in consultation with service users;
- Implementation of a Dignity at Work anti-bullying, harassment and sexual harassment policy for the Irish Civil Service and for State Industrial Employees working in the Civil Service;
- Implementation of best practice procedures for recruitment and selection in accordance with Employment Equality laws, to ensure that the Office acts as an equal opportunities employer; and
- Inclusion of staff representatives in collaborative discussions about policies and practices affecting them using mechanisms of Partnership, Departmental Council and Joint Industrial Council.
The Office of Public Works does not believe it has any strategic action or annual reporting obligations under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, having regard to its functions and purpose. However, using the mechanisms outlined above, the Office remains fully committed to eliminating discrimination, promoting equality and protecting human rights at all times.
Public Appointments Service (PAS)
The Public Appointments Service (PAS) has implemented the public sector and human rights duty under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014. PAS have reported in their annual reports since enactment on their developments and achievements with regard to human rights, equality and diversity.
PAS is committed to equality of opportunity for all (service users and staff), and ensuring that no unnecessary barriers are imposed on those who wish to pursue a career in the Public Service. PAS recognise that they have a key role to play in attracting candidates from all sectors of society, ensuring routes to career opportunities that are accessible to all potential candidates. For the previous PAS Strategy (2017-2019), one of the five key goals in the Strategy was to “Develop stronger public recognition of our organisation to attract more diverse and high quality application pools”. PAS also reported on the actions taken to achieve this goal in each Annual Report from 2017 to 2019.
The mission of the Public Appointments Service, as stated in their new Strategy Statement Nua 2020-2023, clearly identifies their core purpose: ‘Recruiting a diversity of people for the public service with the talent, character & commitment to deliver for Ireland’. A key deliverable from the current strategy is the implementation of its first Equality Diversity & Inclusion Strategy (ED&I) 2021-2023, which will be published later this month. This Strategy takes a planned and systematic approach to realising their ambition to recruit a diverse workforce for the Public Service, ensuring also that PAS deliver on the statutory commitments embodied in equality and human rights legislation and ED&I related national strategies. The Public Sector Duty provided a framework for the development of the PAS ED&I strategy in facilitating their assessment of issues related to equality and human rights in recruitment and employment.
An extensive consultation process with both internal and external stakeholders, aided by the guidance of an Expert Advisory Board, provided rich feedback and insights, which PAS evaluated and analysed to define the strategic change areas they would like to achieve. The three strategic priorities for the period 2021 – 2023 identified are:
- Greater knowledge and understanding of the Irish Public sector workforce and recruitment pipelines, and how they reflect the diversity of Irish society and the communities it serves;
- Recruitment and selection processes encourage and enable access to candidates from diverse backgrounds; and
- PAS culture models best practice in ED&I, and PAS support clients in building Public Sector workplaces that embrace inclusion and reflect society.
PAS strategic impact areas are embedded and aligned with strategic priorities set out in the Statement of Strategy.
In order to support the development and delivery of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, PAS has established an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit, led by an externally recruited Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead at senior management level. PAS are cognisant of the Public Sector Duty’s ‘Assess, Address, Report’ framework and the role of its guiding principles in the implementation of our ED&I strategy. This is reflected in the indicative actions of their strategic change areas, which focus on assessing PAS progress during our ED&I journey and reporting against key success metrics as outlined in Nua.
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
The NSSO provides HR, payroll and pensions administration services to agreed civil and public service bodies, including civil servant retirees. NSSO have no dealings with the public directly.
Dignity and Respect training sessions were delivered to all staff members in 2019/2020 and is an integral part of induction for all new NSSO employees.
The NSSO is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and this is part of our NSSO People Plan under ED&I.
Office of the Ombudsman
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 introduced a positive duty on public bodies to have due regard to human rights and equality issues. The Office of the Ombudsman, which provides secretariat support to the Commission, is committed to providing a service to all clients that respects their human rights and their right to equal treatment and has adopted a proactive approach to implementing this duty. The Office’s approach is underlined by its core organisational values of independence, customer focus and fairness, which are evident in both the culture of the Office and its internal policies and procedures. In undertaking its statutory functions, the Office ensures that any failure to respect human rights is considered. The Office of the Ombudsman reported on progress and achievements in respect of the duty in 2018 and 2019 Ombudsman annual reports and will report on it in the 2020 annual report.
In 2018, the Office of the Ombudsman established a working group on its public sector duty. The group considered the human rights and equality issues relevant to its functions and identified the policies, plans and actions needed to address these. On foot of this, a Public Sector Duty Committee was established and an Equality Officer appointed.
The Committee has made a considerable amount of progress since 2018. It oversaw the introduction of an e-learning module on human rights and equality for new staff members, carried out a review of all communications in the Office, introduced a revised internal communications strategy focusing on the availability of needs assessments and assistive technologies and enhanced the accessibility of the office for staff and visitors.
Up to 2020, the Committee had largely focused on what proactive changes it could make within the organisation. However, in 2020 it expanded its focus to explore how it could implement public sector duty and promote human rights and equality though the public service bodies it deals with. A new action plan was agreed for the short to medium-term, which aims to embed public sector duty into its core strategy and statutory functions and explore how it can introduce a human rights lens when it considers the actions of the public service providers under its remit.
The Strategic Plan 2109-2021 sets out the human rights and equality issues relevant to the functions and purpose of the organisation with regard to the Act. The Office seeks to protect the human rights of all its service-users when investigating their complaints. Staff are encouraged to bring a human rights perspective to their consideration of cases and provide training to the staff on how human rights and equality relate to their work. The Office of the Ombudsman continue to seek a comprehensive jurisdiction to enable it to consider complaints from areas where human rights may be abused, including prisons.
Regulator of the National Lottery
The Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery is a small office of just ten staff and which does not provide services to the public and has a limited stakeholder network with which it interacts. The ORNL has at all times promoted equality of opportunity and treatment of staff, and in recruitment welcomes applications from any person who has the competencies to carry out the duties of the post being filled. In procurement it also requires tenderers/contractors to confirm that they comply with good industry practice and with all applicable laws including in the area of social and labour law.
In 2019/20, the Office carried out a detailed, comprehensive review of its commitments under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, in line with its Public Sector Duty. The findings of that work will be incorporated into the Office’s next Strategy Statement for 2022 to 2024 which is being developed and drafted in 2021 and reported on in annual reports for those years.
State Laboratory
The State Laboratory provides an analytical and advisory service to Government Departments and Offices and has no dealings with the public.
Dignity at work training programmes have been delivered to staff and external recruitment is via the Public Appointments Service, who are committed to a policy of equal opportunity. Duties under the act regarding staff, have been considered under its People and Culture Strategy.
