I welcome the Minister for consideration of this important Bill which has generated a great deal of comment and representation from the various interest groups who want to see equality in employment and have an interest in our Committee Stage proceedings.
The short Title cites the Bill as the Employment Equality Act but several groups have expressed concern about what is included in it. For instance, there is concern that the 1974 and 1977 Acts are not consolidated in this Bill and the omissions are seen as creating difficulties. That issue will arise in the debate on the different sections and representations have been made about them.
On the short Title and the commencement date, why has the Minister omitted some provisions of the previous Acts which were regarded as working well in practice? This issue has been raised with Deputies by a number of groups who are concerned about the future. The Employment Equality Agency, for instance, is concerned about its representation and concerned that its position will be diminished by the provisions in this Bill. It sees its role as being made more peripheral. This brings me to a general question relating to the inclusions in the Bill in the first instance. Why has the Minister not decided to incorporate in the Bill what is there already and to build on the experience of the Employment Equality Agency which was largely limited to cases of gender based discrimination? This would mean a widening of their position.
This issue has been raised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Employment Equality Agency. These are important issues on which we would like to hear the Minister's views before we get into the detail of the Bill.