Michael Mc Dowell TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, today launched the Strategic Plan of the Equality Authority for 2006 to 2008.
The Plan is entitled ‘Embedding Equality’. It defines a mission for the Equality Authority as seeking ‘to achieve positive change in the situation and experience of those groups and individuals experiencing inequality by stimulating and supporting a commitment to equality:
- within the systems and practices of key organisations and institutions,
- as part of the cultural values espoused by society,
- as a dimension to individual attitudes and actions’.
Niall Crowley, CEO of the Equality Authority, speaking at the launch stated that ‘the context for this strategic plan is characterised by significant and persistent inequalities across the nine grounds covered by the equality legislation’. In this regard he identified a range of issues including ‘the 15% pay gap experienced by women, the absence of partnership rights for gay and lesbian couples, the underdevelopment of community care services and the impact of this on carers and on people with disabilities and older people in need of care, and the high numbers of Traveller families (nearly 30%) without access to permanent accommodation’.
During the next three years, the Equality Authority will:
- develop new work on promoting equality within accommodation policy and provision in schools and in health service organisations;
- develop initiatives to support planned and systematic approaches to equality in the workplace, in further education and training;
- seek to implement the full range of its functions and powers including conducting inquiries and equality reviews alongside sustaining a culture of compliance with the legislation through strategic litigation;
- support the further development of an equality infrastructure with a capacity to effectively address significant and persistent inequalities. This will include work to support further development of the equality legislation of equality proofing and of the collection and analysis of equality data;
- take initiatives to respond to core issues currently facing particular groups covered by the legislation.
In concluding, Niall Crowley highlighted that ‘significant and persistent inequalities demand change. This strategic plan establishes our commitment to contributing to this necessary change through:
- enforcement and enhancement of the equality legislation,
- negotiation and joint initiative, to devise and support good practice in promoting equality, accommodating diversity and combating discrimination,
- knowledge development that provides new information and analysis of equality issues,
- cultural action that contributes to a societal value base that prizes equality’.
ENDS