Norma Foley TD
Minister for Children, Disability, and Equality
Department of Children, Disability, and Equality
Block 1, Miesian Plaza
50 – 58 Lower Baggot Street
Dublin 2
16 June 2026
RE: Meeting with IHREC
Dear Minister Foley
I refer to our recent meeting and welcome the opportunity this afforded to discuss the following matters.
EU Presidency Event
We have previously urged the Government to use Ireland’s EU presidency to reaffirm and strengthen fundamental rights, equality, democratic resilience and inclusive governance across the EU. We have stressed that Ireland’s Presidency should place the protection of fundamental rights at the centre, ensuring competitiveness and simplification do not erode rights or weaken the European Social Model, support and strengthen equality bodies and human rights institutions across the EU, and promote inclusive, sustainable economic growth in the context of the next MFF that counters inequality, deprivation and polarisation. We welcome the emphasis on Equality in the Programme of Events proposed in relation to Ireland’s Presidency. We also welcome agreement that IHREC will engage with DCDE on equality programme events with regards to preparation of concept notes, connections with National Equality Bodies and National Human Rights Insitutions in other Member States and with Equinet and ENNHRI.
Horizontal Equal Treatment Directive
We note that Ireland has been at the forefront historically of progressing the Horizontal Equal Treatment Directive. Whilst we note that this Directive is currently stalled at Council level, we welcome the Irish Government’s commitment to try to advance the Directive during its presidency and its continued leadership in relation to this matter. As agreed at our meeting, IHREC will support the Government’s efforts to progress this issue.
Pay Transparency Directive
We note that we were informed at our meeting that the Government has informed the European Commission that it will not transpose the Pay Transparency Directive by the deadline of 7 June. The Commission is concerned at any delay in the transposition of this Directive as it means that the additional measures aimed at increasing gender pay equality will also be delayed. We note the importance of Ireland’s leadership on gender equality particularly in relation to the EU Presidency and we stress the need for timely transposition of equality related directives.
EU Directives on Standards for Equality Bodies
As we discussed, we recently wrote to your Department setting out our views on the draft Statutory Instrument in relation to transposition of the EU Directives on Standards for Equality Bodies (‘Standards Directives’). In our letter we reiterated the Commission’s disappointment with the minimalist approach taken to transposing the Directives by secondary legislation meaning only mandatory elements of the Directives will be transposed, they will not apply to certain grounds and fields in Irish equality law and there will be no Oireachtas scrutiny of the legislation. We also outlined our views on the Workplace Relations Commission not being designated as an equality body, and highlighted issues with using IHREC’s complex inquiry power under section 35 of the IHREC Act to transpose the competence to conduct an inquiry under Article 8 of the Standards Directives. Our letter also included our concerns regarding the proposed provisions relating to complaints, alternative dispute resolution, cooperation, consultation, data collection, and reports.
As discussed, IHREC is preparing a baseline monitoring report using the European Commission indicators. The report will be published following transposition and will have a focus on those indicators on which Equality Bodies independently report to the European Commission, namely, independence, resources and effectiveness with regards to consultation and access to information and documents. IHREC is also conducting a resources analysis exercise in relation to the Directives that will inform our engagement with the upcoming estimates process.
Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
We understand from your letter of 28 April that ‘discretionary elements of the Standards Directives that cannot be transposed by way of secondary legislation, will be given further consideration in the context of ongoing work on the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.’ We request that this Bill be given priority publication in the Autumn Legislative Programme.
Codes of Practice
As the Minister will be aware, the Commission has submitted four draft Codes of Practice (‘CoP’) to DCDE, however, approval of same remains outstanding.1 The Commission considers that it is important to progress these CoPs. We note that each CoP aligns with planned EU Presidency events thus presenting an opportunity for the Minister to launch each CoP at such an event.
IHREC Annual Conference
As we highlighted, IHREC’s annual conference “Together Rising: Challenging Inequality, Countering Hate” will take place on 10 September 2026 in Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin. The conference will examine how poverty, inequality and insecurity continue to impact on communities, while rising division amplified by social, economic and technological factors poses risks to social cohesion. We previously sent correspondence inviting you Minister to address the opening of the conference. The Commission would be greatly honoured to have you address the conference and as discussed, we will contact your Office in relation to this invitation.
Yours sincerely,
Liam Herrick
Chief Commissioner
Footnotes
1 Family-Friendly Working CoP, submitted for approval on 28 June 2022; Reasonable Accommodation for Employees and Applicants with Disabilities CoP, submitted for approval on 21 February 2023; Public Sector Duty CoP, submitted for approval on 27 March 2024; Discriminatory Advertising CoP, submitted for approval on 29 October 2024.