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Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty
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All public bodies in Ireland have responsibility, under the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty or Public Sector Duty, to promote equality, prevent discrimination and protect the human rights of their employees, customers, service users, and everyone affected by their policies and plans. This is a legal obligation and is contained in Section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014.
Section 42 of the Act sets out three core steps to be taken by public bodies. These are:
- In preparing strategic plans, public sector bodies must assess and identify the human rights and equality issues that are relevant to their functions. These issues must relate to all of its functions as policy maker, employer and service provider.
- Public bodies must then identify the policies and practices that they have in place or that they plan to put in place to address these issues.
- In their annual reports, or equivalent documents, public bodies must report in a manner accessible to the public on their developments and achievement in that regard.
The Department of Transport Public Sector Duty Assessment and Action Plan has now been published (below) and progress will be reported in the 2021 Annual Report.
