Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
1477. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the way that his Department and public bodies and agencies under his remit met their obligations under section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 in 2021, including the way that relevant policies and actions are monitored and the way that the obligation is reflected in their annual reports. [41371/22]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 (IHREC), requires public bodies, in the performance of their functions, to: eliminate discrimination; promote equality of opportunity; and protect the human rights of its members, staff and the persons to whom it provides services.
To meet the core requirements of this duty, public bodies are required to Assess, Address and Report on the human rights and equality issues it believes to be relevant to the functions and purpose of the body.
The requirements to Assess and Address have been dealt with under my Department’s Statement of Strategy 2021-2023. One of the key values of which is to “treat our colleagues and those to whom we provide services equitably, in keeping with our Public Sector Human Rights and Equality obligations”.
Inclusion is one of the core strategic goals of the Statement of Strategy. A key ambition for my department is to ensure that we provide more opportunities in tertiary education for all, reflecting the diversity of our population. This means recognising the needs of vulnerable learners, people who are most marginalised and people with special and additional needs. Under the inclusion goal, my department will provide leadership, advocate equality and respect for all, support inclusive learning, working and research environments, promote female leadership in academia and research, eliminate harassment and promote the principle of consent.
Diversity is a key strength of tertiary education. In recent decades our universities, institutes of technology, and colleges have been transformed, from predominantly national institutions catering primarily for school-leavers, to internationally oriented institutions engaged with an increasingly diverse student body, of all ages, backgrounds and gender identities.
The tertiary education legislation under which my department and its aegis bodies operate, complements the public sector duty espoused in the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, in terms of promoting the attainment of equality of opportunity and the support for equality, diversity and inclusion in our tertiary education sector.
Equality, Diversity and inclusion in further and higher education takes account of the nine grounds of discrimination set out in legislation as well as socio-economic status and educational background. It recognises the intersectionality of issues that can affect individuals and reflects their unique experiences of discrimination. I want to ensure that tertiary education is readily available and accessible by all, regardless of their location, culture, language, disadvantage, or disability.
In 2021, my department has, inter alia:
- Progressed the implementation of the Future FET: Transforming learning 2020-2024 strategy which is focused on the three key pillars of Building Skills, Fostering Inclusion and Creating Pathways;
- Published the 10 year Adult Literacy for Life Strategy which seeks to further enhance awareness about existing supports, make these supports more accessible, and encourage people to avail of the many excellent upskilling options available for literacy, numeracy and digital literacy;
- Published the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 which has five overarching objectives, including "Apprenticeship for All" which seeks to ensure that the profile of the apprenticeship population more closely reflects the profile of the general population; and
- Has actively engaged on a number of Whole of Government Strategies and Action Plans which support the broad goals of equality, diversity and inclusion. These include: The National Strategy on Domestic, Gender and Sexual Based Violence, The Migrant Integration Strategy, The National Disability Inclusion Strategy, The National Strategy for Women and Girls, The National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy and more recently, the National Action Plan Against Racism.
In June, I announced new initiatives to support autistic students and those with an intellectual disability access third level education. These proposals form part of the new National Access Plan which I intend to publish shortly. I am committed to supporting access routes and inclusive education initiatives for learners with intellectual disabilities, and the new National Action Plan will be a key milestone in our journey towards a truly inclusive Further and Higher Education Sector.
The final obligation under the IHREC, to Report, will be included in my Department’s Annual Reports. It is anticipated that the annual report for 2021 will be published in the coming weeks and it will set out my Department’s achievements for 2021, including those relating to our obligations regarding equality and human rights.
The compliance with section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 by the bodies and agencies under the aegis of my Department is a matter relating to the internal functioning of these agencies. Various aegis bodies have published their own strategy statements, diversity and equality policies, dignity at work policies and customer service charters which can be accessed by students, staff and the public via their websites.
