Annex
Basic statistics regarding the Equality
Commission[6]
Further Memorandum from Committee on the
Administration of Justice
This paper makes the following recommendations
for the attention of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.
1. The Government must (in combination with
other relevant actors) set ambitious but also realistic goals
and timetables for reductions in the unemployment differentials
and for progress in the employment sphere;
2. Affirmative action should be encouraged
with legislative protection for any bona fide measures
taken in furtherance of an affirmative action plan designed to
ensure fair participation;
3. Contract compliance should be actively
embraced as a positive reinforcement for good employment practices;
4. The Government should give renewed consideration
to SACHR's various recommendations in the educational sphere,
given the importance of this issue for later employment prospects;
5. The Government must be asked to assign
additional resources to the new Targeting Social Need programme
and must devise mechanisms whereby the skewing of resources is
made more transparent;
6. Government departments should be asked
what progress has been made to date in drafting equality schemes
relevant to their areas of responsibility. CAJ would also request
that the Committee examine how the existing PAFT arrangements
are being operated;
7. The Committee should explore how the new
Equality Commission plans to seek harmonisation of the existing
fragmented legislation, so as to ensure that the rights of all
groups are equally protected. In addition the Committee should
explore how the Equality Commission is being funded vis a"
vis the policing of the statutory duty on public bodies;
8. Legislation should be amended to incorporate
all of SACHR's rejected recommendations including affirmative
action, section 31 reviews, and the Fair Employment Tribunal.
The option of exemptions to the equality legislation on the grounds
of national security should be dropped.
6 Not printed. See p. vii. Back
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