Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty

SDCC Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty

The Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty

SDCC marked UN Human Rights Day and launched the SDCC Public Sector Duty Equality and Human Rights Framework by holding a staff seminar in the council chamber, featuring Speakers Bernie Bradley, Dr Michael Seifu and SDCC’s Cristina Hurson.

South Dublin County Council recognises the need to eliminate discrimination, promote equality of opportunity, and protect the human rights of our Elected Members, customers and staff. We are committed to addressing these issues across all our functions and in the design and delivery of our services.

This commitment is now underpinned by a legal obligation, the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty, provided for in the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014.

Section 42 of the 2014 Act requires public bodies to have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, promote equality, and protect human rights for staff, service users and policy beneficiaries across all their functions. Specifically, public bodies are required to implement three steps:

Assess: establish those issues that face the identified groups for the Duty that have a relevance for the functions of SDCC.
Address: check plans and policies at final draft or review stage to establish what actions are being taken to address these issues and what further actions need to be included for an adequate and appropriate response to these issues.
Report: report annually on progress made on implementing the Duty and addressing the issues identified.

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This Equality and Human Rights Framework has been developed as part of our commitment to implementing the Duty and doing to so to a high level of ambition and to a high standard. It presents:

the assessment of human rights and equality issues facing the identified groups and of relevance to the Council’s functions and services;
the SDCC equality and human rights Values Statement, which identifies those values that motivate our shared concern for equality and human rights and provides benchmarks, related to each value, for our ambition in this area and, specifically for the Duty; and
the actions to be taken to enable our implementation of the Duty, and the key moments for implementing the duty in developing or reviewing our strategies plans, programmes and policies.

Framework

This Equality and Human Rights Framework has been developed as part of our commitment to implementing the Duty and doing to so to a high level of ambition and to a high standard. It presents:

the assessment of human rights and equality issues facing the identified groups and of relevance to the Council’s functions and services;
the SDCC equality and human rights Values Statement, which identifies those values that motivate our shared concern for equality and human rights and provides benchmarks, related to each value, for our ambition in this area and, specifically for the Duty; and
the actions to be taken to enable our implementation of the Duty, and the key moments for implementing the duty in developing or reviewing our strategies plans, programmes and policies.

We will work together to implement the framework, through annual workplans, and we will report, in a way that is accessible to the public, on the progress that we make in this. We will report on the developments and achievements under this framework in the Council’s annual report.

Our Equality and Human Rights Working Group will continue to guide, support and monitor the implementation the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty.

Framework document can be found by clicking on the image below:

Please see the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Framework available through Irish Sign Language (ISL) Below.

Links and resources

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC)

https://www.ihrec.ie

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014

https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/act/25/section/10/enacted/en/html

IHREC Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty Assessment Tools

https://www.ihrec.ie/our-work/public-sector-duty/duty-assessment-tools-and-data-sources/

Implementing the Public Sector Duty – ISL version

https://vimeo.com/467731986

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), Public Sector Duty team have developed an eLearning module ‘Equality and Human Rights in the Public Service’. There are three units in the module:

Unit 1: Equality in the Public Service

Unit 2: Human Rights in the Public Service

Unit 3: The Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty

The module is free to access for all public service staff through www.ihrec.ie/elearning. It is interactive, self-paced (you can complete it in stages depending on your available time – the module will remember where you reached in your previous sitting), is fully accessible, and can be accessed through a range of devices.

Links to relevant local structures and key links across the identified groups

South Dublin County Public Participation Network

https://www.sdcppn.ie

South Dublin County Disability Advisory and Consultative Panel

https://www.sdcc.ie/en/services/our-council/policies-and-plans/disability-access/accessible-south-dublin-county/advisory-consultative-panel/

South Dublin Comhairle na nÓg

https://www.sdcc.ie/en/services/community/comhairle-na-nog/

South Dublin County LGBT+ Network

https://www.facebook.com/southdublinlgbt

Older Person's Council

https://agefriendlyireland.ie

Migrant Integration Forum