COMMENT:OVER THE last 10 years, since the enactment of equality legislation and the establishment of the Equality Authority, the Republic has come a long way in terms of embedding equality into our culture.
Practices which discriminate against individuals on the basis of nine specific grounds have been outlawed. However, there are still many issues to be addressed.
A key question must now be: how are we going to achieve and maintain greater equality and eliminate discrimination in an economically challenged environment?
In 2009 the authority’s budget was cut by 43 per cent. During this time, the authority was extremely concerned that vulnerable individuals who needed support might have been led to the erroneous belief that it was no longer in a position to help them.
Therefore, we had two choices: either give up and walk away, or stay and work to ensure that the authority is fit to carry out its task and support people affected by discrimination.
The latter is what the authority did, with staff and board members taking on many additional tasks, welcoming in all those who would help and in doing so met its original targets.
A merger of the authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission is being discussed. While many of us would like to see the individual agencies remain, it is now time to revisit this issue.
The equality and human rights agendas share common ground. In a time of financial constraints the primary concern must be the full delivery of the equality and human rights missions. I have every confidence that the management and staff of these two agencies, with proper resources, could do this work together.
The delivery of the equality and anti-discrimination agenda is also performed by NGOs, who do great work. Many other State agencies, employer organisations and trade unions also contribute significantly.
In total, the statutory and non-statutory organisations involved in equality and anti-discrimination in the Republic represent a significant resource. However, it must be acknowledged that there is some fragmentation and duplication of efforts. This could be addressed within an overall national strategy for equality and a national framework which would clearly identify everyone’s part and define outcomes.
As we work our way through this recession we must always be aware that our societal values play a significant role in the performance of our economy.
Human capital, diverse skills, talent and experience are essential components of economic recovery.
Creating and maintaining a living environment that accommodates and respects diversity of people is seen as a significant component to attracting inward investment.
We have a lot to be proud of in the Republic. As our economy and society emerges from difficult times, the vast majority of the people in this State want to ensure that we continue to prioritise and appropriately resource our equality and anti-discrimination infrastructure.
There are many people in the Republic who work hard on a daily basis towards ensuring that the State is a good place to live and work and they all deserve our support.
Together we will ensure that the Republic is a country which values people’s skills and talents, where discrimination has no place and where everyone feels welcome.
Dr Angela Kerins is the outgoing chairwoman of the Equality Authority