Vol. 572 No. 4
71 Mr. Penrose 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. [23378/03]
The Human Rights Commission is at an advanced stage of recruiting the final member of its administrative staff which will bring its full complement to ten such staff, as it requested. The chief executive was appointed in June 2002. It will shortly be moving to its new permanent office accommodation in the city centre and that will further enhance its ability to provide services to the public in line with its wide statutory mandate and remit as outlined in section 8 of the Human Rights Commission Act 2000.
In that regard, I direct the Deputy's attention to the commission's first strategic plan for 2003-06, which it published on 31 March 2003. The plan sets out the areas of work on which the commission proposes to focus over the next four years and it is a key document in the process of the commission's ongoing consultation and dialogue. The commission's budget for 2003 as published is €1.28 million
