5 2 December - January 2017
OPINION
I
T COULD not be clearer. The Irish Human
Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014
says that public bodies must, when they are
preparing strategic plans, assess and iden-
tify the human rights and equality issues
that are relevant to their functions as policy
maker, employer and service provider. Public
bodies must also identify the policies and prac-
tices that they have in place or that they plan to
put in place to address these issues. We can only
assume they meant it when they enacted the leg
-
islation, two years ago now.
The excitement could, therefore, hardly be
contained as the Department of Education and
Skills was first out of the traps with its new
Statement of Strategy. All other Government
Departments are still in the process of finalising
their own new Statements of Strategies. They lag
behind Education, hot off the press with its
‘Action Plan for Education 2016-2019’.
The Statement of Strategy opens with a pic-
ture of a smiling Minister Richard Bruton and his
commitment that “we can work together with all
the people who work in and depend on the edu
-
cation and training service to, collectively, make
it into the best in Europe”. This ‘best in world’
stuff is cringe-inducing but, whatever, how did
it manage the new public sector duty?
It is worth setting it out in full. It comes under
the less than promising subheading “Ensuring
Equity. Equity, it must be remembered, is about
fairness, not the more particular, more ambi-
tious equality, not even human rights. It goes
like this
“As part of their public sector duty, public
bodies are required to consider human rights and
equality issues relevant to them. In preparing this
document, such issues were considered and indi-
vidual actions address matters specific to the
education and training sector. Ensuring access to
an equitable system is a driving force throughout
the Department’s work”.
That’s it. It feels like a crude two fingers to the
legislation, to the Oireachtas that enacted it, and
to anybody who had naively entertained expec-
tations deriving from the legislation. Human
rights don’t even get another mention
in the 64- page document. Equality gets
a mention as it is part of the name of the
DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity
in Schools) initiative and, under Goal 2,
where the Statement of Strategy compla-
cently recites that “we have made
considerable progress in advancing equity and
equality of opportunity”, but does deign to
acknowledge that “significant challenges
remain if we are to ensure that children and
young people from different backgrounds are
adequately supported so that they can experi-
ence success in the education system”.
Anything vaguely equality-related is squashed
into Goal 2 of the Strategy Statement which is to
improve the progress of learners at risk of edu
-
cational disadvantage or learners with special
education needs. Goal 2 has 18 actions. This
compares with 35 actions under Goal 1 to improve
the learning experience and success of learners,
29 actions under Goal 3 to help those delivering
educational services to continuously improve, 37
actions under Goal 4 to build stronger bridges
between education and the wider community,
and 20 actions under Goal 5 to improve national
planning and support services.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commis-
sion has produced limited but clear guidance on
implementing this public-sector duty. The steps
required include:
•
Undertake an assessment of human rights
and equality issues that are relevant to its
functions, to the services it provides and to
its employees. The Department of Education
and Skills Statement of Strategy demon-
strates no evidence of such an analysis.
• Consult broadly with employees, managers,
trade unions, individuals and communities
accessing and using the services, and other
key stakeholders, which may be affected by
inequalities and human rights issues. The
Department of Education and Skills received
submissions from 600 individuals and groups
but there is no evidence that any of these
related to equality and human rights or the
public-sector duty.
•
Screen and analyse policies and programmes
from a human rights and equality perspec-
tive, identifying which existing policies and
programmes are particularly relevant. The
Department of Education and Skills Statement
of Strategy demonstrates no evidence of such
screening or analysis.
•
Develop action plans on human rights and
equality with defined actions and responsi-
bilities. The Department of Education and
Skills Statement of Strategy demonstrates no
evidence of such an action plan.
So, what next? The Irish Human Rights and
Equality Commission, in its guidance, states
that where it “considers there are failures to
fulfil the Public Sector Duty, it can invite a public
body to carry out an equality and human rights
review of the work of the organisation and pre
-
pare and implement an action plan”. Logically
then, the only outstanding matter now is when
will the Irish Human Rights and Equality Com-
mission act?
If not zeal then logic
Human Rights and Equality Commission
should force public bodies, led by Education
Department, to implement action plan for
equality and human rights
by Niall Crowley
IHREC has produced clear
guidance on implementing
this public-sector duty
including: Develop action
plans with defined
responsibilities. The
Department of Education
has no action plan.

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