Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what information his Department holds on whether the Republic of Ireland has introduced equal status legislation since 10 April 1998 as provided by paragraph 9 of the chapter on rights, safeguarding and equality of opportunity in the Belfast Agreement.

I am not aware of any specific information held by my Department in relation to this matter.

It is my understanding, however, that the Republic of Ireland gave further effect to provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in domestic legislation through the European Convention of Human Rights Act 2003, and that since 1998 a number of pieces of legislation have been introduced in the Republic of Ireland including the Employment Equality Acts 1998 and 2004.