Vol. 566 No. 3
163 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress made to date with regard to the operation of the Human Rights Commission; the number of staff now employed by the Commission; the budget allocated to the Commission for 2003; the services the Commission is currently offering to the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12798/03]
I wish to refer the Deputy to my replies to similar questions on this matter on 6 February and 12 March 2003.
At present the commission has a chief executive and four of its permanent administrative staff. It is now at an advanced stage of recruiting an additional six members which will bring its full staffing complement to ten, as it requested. I have already indicated that the commission's ability to service the public is limited until such time as it has its full complement of staff. However, I believe this stage will now be achieved fairly quickly. The commission recently published its strategic plan for 2003-06. The plan sets out key areas of work on which the commission proposes to focus over the next four years. The commission's budget for this year is €1.28 million.
