Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
287. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Transport 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. [41380/22]
View answerThe Public Sector Duty, as provided for in Section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, places a legal obligation on all public bodies, including all central government departments, to promote equality, prevent discrimination and protect the human rights of their employees and everyone affected by their functions and services.
This obligation is recognised in the Department of Transport's Public Sector Duty Assessment and Action Plan, which was published in October 2020 and covers the period 2021 to 2023, and in the department's Statement of Strategy, which was published in March 2021.
In 2021, the department's Public Sector Duty Working Group commenced the implementation of the actions contained in this Plan, including the delivery of information sessions on its contents to all divisions of the department to ensure greater awareness and understanding of the Duty. A number of Working Group members have obtained a professional diploma in Human Rights and Equality and the department also worked closely with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) in the development of its introductory eLearning module Equality and Human Rights in the Public Service. In addition to the above, department officials engaged in the work of interdepartmental equality and human rights committees and contributed to work on disability and gender-related policy issues. The issue is also discussed regularly at other cross-divisional meetings, including the Horizontal Working Group on Organisational Excellence.
The department is committed to ensuring that there is a culture of respect for human rights and equality among our staff and for the people to whom we provide services. The Public Sector Duty is an ongoing duty that must be continuously monitored, reviewed, and developed and the department will continue to work with IHREC in this regard. Progress on its implementation will be included in the annual reports of this department.
The implementation of section 42 of the IHREC Act 2014 is a matter for each agency. I have asked the agencies under my department’s remit to respond to you directly. If you do not hear from them within 10 working days, please advise my private office.
