Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
144. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has a diversity and inclusion policy in place; the measures taken to promote diversity and inclusion from 1 January 2019 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11823/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has been very active in the area of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) since 2019. June 2019 was our first attendance at Pride, as part of the wider Civil and Public Service participation and representatives of my HR unit are on the organising group hosted by the Department of Justice and Equality (DJE) and have participated again this year for Virtual Pride 2020.
This year, to advance our Diversity and Inclusion programme my HR unit had plans to hold meetings across our locations to ask staff what they wanted in terms of awareness raising events, the establishment of an EDI committee and the possibility of setting up staff networks. As a result of Covid-19 we had to change the format and set up a series of online Lunch and Learn events to advance the EDI conversation in the Department.
These include presentations on Mental Health by the See Change organisation which took place on the 11th June. To mark Pride week we have a presentation from LGBT Ireland on Thursday 25th June on ‘Why LGBT+ Inclusive Workplaces are Important for Everyone’. On the 9th of July we have a presentation from Dr Angela Byrne, Historian on the historical barriers to women’s participation in public life, and the pioneering women who blazed the trail for us today.
My Department also hosted a staff social event quiz with the DJE with proceeds going to LGBT Ireland and also in conjunction with DJE produced an ABCs of LGBT guide for staff which is available on our intranet, together with a range of new awareness raising material on EDI issues. In addition, there is an interview in the latest edition of our staff magazine with members of the DJE LGBT+ staff network, also to mark Pride Week. Our EDI web page also includes material which The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has kindly shared their “Because we’re all human Means we’re all equal” advertising campaign material with us. The campaign was aimed at challenging societal and individual attitudes that limit people with disabilities’ participation in everyday life and has been made available to our staff through email updates and our intranet page.
My Department had been in the process of developing a formal Diversity and Inclusion policy in consultation with staff prior to Covid-19 as part of my Departments HR Strategy for 2020/21. While the work on the policy has been delayed it is hoped to have it completed and operational as soon as possible to allow the continuation of the many existing activities and the development of new areas around Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
