Sinéad Gibney, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission

27th October 2021

This Best Practice event focused on the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty and was addressed by member of the ACESA Alumni network, Sinéad Gibney, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.

Sinéad spoke about her experience at the head of IHREC since 2019 and drew on her experience working in the public sector and civil society. She highlighted the need to implement statutory obligations under Section 42 of the IHREC Act 2014 in state agencies to ensure equality and human rights duty in the public sector. She mentioned the need to address issues in the public sector with regards to the need to promote and protect human rights and equality in the workplace and in access to services. She spoke concretely about delivering tangible outcomes for public sector staff and service users in the implementation of the statutory obligations. Sinéad was also joined during her presentation by her colleague Laurence Bond who is an ACESA member.