Vol. 571 No. 2
295 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the extra resources he has authorised to facilitate the enactment of outstanding EU directives; the EU directives outstanding now; the reason for the delay in each case; and when the backlog will be cleared. [21535/03]
The information requested by the Deputy is as follows.
My Department has two directives outstanding which it has yet to transpose. These directives are:
Directive 98/5/EC to facilitate practice of the profession of lawyer on a permanent basis in a member state other than that in which the qualification was obtained; and Directive 2000/43/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin.
The position in regard to Directive 98/5/EC is that the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 2002 gave statutory backing to certain aspects of the Directive. That Act also provides for regulations to make provision for the remaining elements. A number of outstanding points need to be pursued with the professional bodies. It is hoped that these issues can be resolved shortly and the necessary regulations can be made in the near future.
Primary legislation will be required to amend the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equal Status Act 2000 for the purpose of giving effect to the Directive 2000/43/EC. The Government has approved the drafting of an equality Bill, on a priority basis for this purpose and the Bill is listed on the Government's legislation programme with a view to publication in the current session. The Bill will also give effect to Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation and Directive 76/207/EEC on the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards to employment, vocational training, promotion and working conditions which are due for transposition in December 2003 and 2005 respectively.
The transposition of EU directives forms part of the normal work of my Department and the staffing requirements to deal with this work will be met from within existing resources.
