Departmental Policies

61. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the mechanism her Department uses to assess whether policies developed in the name of equality are having unintended or disproportionate impacts on the rights of other groups, particularly children, women and girls; whether she considers that equality policy should require an assessment of the competing rights, privacy, dignity and safety of those affected before such policies are implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65690/26]

I thank the Deputy and appreciate the question. As Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, I am always conscious of the potential impacts of the work of the Department and others on the rights of children, women and girls. Indeed, my work has a very strong focus on improving conditions for women and children across this country. Equally, the Department of public expenditure and reform leads on the equality budgeting programme, which seeks to identify the impacts of policies and expenditure across a broad range of equality grounds. The European Institute for Gender Equality, EIGE, undertakes an assessment of the impact of actions by governments on gender equality. It has found the Government's action on equality for women and girls to have positive impacts and placed Ireland sixth in the EU on its gender equality index for 2025, up from ninth in the EU in 2024. Across government, there are established mechanisms in place when formulating new policies, including public consultation, reviewing the available evidence and undertaking further research or legal analysis, where appropriate, and stakeholder engagement. As Minister, I inform my Government colleagues of proposals and, whenever appropriate, seek their agreement. Government approval is required for significant new or revised policies or strategies which must indicate any impacts on equality. Government approval is also required at several points before the publication of legislation. As the Deputy is aware, the general scheme, or draft heads, of a Bill undergoes scrutiny by an Oireachtas committee before the text of the Bill is finalised. The relevant Oireachtas committee will usually invite stakeholders to participate in this process. A Bill must then pass through five Stages in both the Dáil and Seanad before it can be enacted. In order to ensure a more inclusive and fair society, policymakers need access to data related to equality. Robust and comprehensive evidence allows the Government to design and evaluate policies and services more effectively. Disaggregated data, or data broken down by characteristics such as age or gender, allows policymakers to compare the outcomes for population groups. That is why we published the National Equality Data Strategy 2026-2031 earlier this year. The strategy provides a framework to support the collection and use of equality data across government.

I thank the Minister for her reply but, with respect, it did not answer the question I asked. I did not ask whether she is committed to equality. I asked for the mechanisms. When a policy or recommendation is made by the Department in the name of equality, what is the actual process for checking whether it takes the rights away from somebody else? In my question, I named women, children and girls. I do not have to look very far for an example of that. We can go back before the summer recess. I trust the Minister is rested and had time to enjoy the summer. In that time, I hope she finally took the opportunity to read the book What's the T?, which was recommended for 15-year-old girls by a State-funded body's Pride reading list. Last year, the Minister told the public that she was not familiar with it, yet the well-respected former Minister, Charlie Flanagan, said he had raised the issue with her and asked her to read it back in 2023. Her own office was emailed excerpts of the book in March of this year. The point is that if a sexually explicit book can be recommended to children in the name of inclusion and nobody in the Department can tell me who checked whether it was safe for those children, the mechanism I am asking about does not exist. If it did, it would be in the Oireachtas Library. Does the assessment exist? It is a "Yes" or "No". If so, could I have an example of that assessment?

To reiterate, in terms of the book the Deputy referenced, the Department has no role in the oversight or recommendation of any of the books referenced. There is no role for the Department to do that. On the Deputy's specific question on what exactly happens regarding assessments that are made of impacts on children, women and girls from an equality point of view, I have made very clear to him that when any Department is bringing forward any kind of policy or strategy, there must be a robust interrogation of it. If anything new is being introduced, it goes before a committee. There is an interrogation at committee level. As I referenced, any policy introduced is also analysed by EIGE, which placed Ireland sixth in terms of equality for women and girls in 2025, up from ninth. I also told the Deputy that the Department of public expenditure leads an equality rights budgeting programme. That also seeks to analyse the impacts of policies and expenditure across a broad range of equality grounds. I have been very clear on the mechanisms that are in place.

The Minister did not answer my question on whether she read the book or not, but she made the statement, in respect of those types of book, that her Department has nothing to do with it. This may come as a surprise to her, but she is the Minister for children and equality. These are recommended books describing sexual acts to 15-year-old children. If the buck does not stop with her, as the Minister, where does it stop? Where is the mechanism that protects those children? That is what I am asking about today. The Minister's reply was very disappointing. Will she come clean to the House and tell us whether she has read the book or the excerpts? Will she tell us who was telling the truth and who was not telling the truth? Was it her or the former Minister, Charlie Flanagan? What is the story? If the buck does not stop with her, who does it stop with? This is about the protection of children. When explicit books are being recommended to children and placed on a reading list for children, I would think the Minister for children is surely responsible.

To be very clear, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality has no role in the publication of books. The Department neither publishes the books, and nor does it recommend them. That has nothing to do with the Department. Deputy O'Flynn referred to an account given by a former Deputy. I have said that I do not share that account. I have a different remembrance of the engagement I had with the former Deputy, and it is completely at odds with what he has suggested. Notwithstanding that, Deputy O'Flynn asked what mechanisms we employ in terms of equality and ensuring that there are not any disproportionate impacts. That is specifically what is written in the Deputy's question. He asked what mechanisms are in place that might protect against unintended or disproportionate impacts on the rights of other groups, particularly children, women and girls. I have clearly outlined to the Deputy that there are a number of mechanisms in place, including in the Department of public expenditure from a budgetary point of view, the analysis done by the European Institute for Gender Equality, the responsibility placed on every Department to analyse the impacts of whatever policies or strategies it is introducing, or the role played by the wider Dáil in the legislation going through the House.