Minister's speech

I am delighted to have been asked to launch the report and I do very much welcome the chance to come here today to give my endorsement to the fact that government needs to tackle the issues that the report highlights for us. I know that there is a great of work gone into the report and I would particularly like to thank all of those, many of whom are present today, who have made contributions to the report and I would like to particularly acknowledge the help and support people gave when they attended the seminar in Belfast in March and those of you who offered, what I can say, are candid opinions at that event. I would like to thank also Philip and Fiona particularly for their work in editing the report and helping to produce what is, I think, a substantial and comprehensive piece of research.

I want to stress very strongly the importance of how public authorities provide their services to the public. If the delivery of public services is not, in my view, actually promoting racial equalities then inevitably it potentially can reinforce those inequalities and if we are not part of the solution then we risk being part of the problem. Ensuring that people have access to opportunities and similar life chances and the public services treats individuals irrespective of their ethnic and religious background are in my view essential in terms of the services that we provide in Northern Ireland for the public of Northern Ireland and racial equality is, in my view, critical to delivering good public quality services and a better quality of life for everybody.

However, the publication of the report today must not be the end of a process, it must, in my view, be the beginning of one. Action will in government be taken on the findings and recommendations people are entitled to expect no less and the publication of the report is, in my view, a practical example of the government’s commitment to racial equality as set out in our Racial Equality Strategy and I want to really just say a few words in context if I may about that Strategy and how we can begin to move on to the report and recommendations in the report in due course.

As you will know, the government produced a Racial Equality Strategy for Northern Ireland in July of last year, which allows a framework for government to do three main things.

First of all to do what I think is most important, which is to tackle the racial inequalities in Northern Ireland and to make sure that we have opportunity for all irrespective of their race and indeed their religion and their sexual orientation.

Secondly, to eradicate racism and hate crime from our society. There is still too much. There are still too many examples and, in my view, racism and hate crime are central cancers in our society that we need to take steps to eradicate. And thirdly, together we need to build a shared future. The policy and strategic framework for good relations in Northern Ireland gives us that framework and helps us initiate actions to promote good relations in the future.

The Race Relations Strategy sets out six shared aims that government in Northern Ireland will ensure that we pursue in tackling racial inequalities and in eradicating racism. These aims include the elimination of racial inequality, equal protection and redress against racism and racist crime, encouraging participation in society, promoting dialogue, capacity building and last but not least equality of service provision.

Now as government we are keenly aware that the key role at service provision can play in promoting racial equality and that role is central. If minority ethnic individuals and peoples are entitled to play a full part in society which they are it is essential that we in government accommodate their rights to have equal access to and benefit equally from all public services including health, education, policing, training, employment and that we in government act on those measures to ensure those rights are enforced.

Service providers if we are honest have not in the past always responded appropriately to all the needs of all the people from minority ethnic backgrounds. The strategy that we are promoting in government now will, I hope, ensure that structures and services are flexible enough and staff informed enough to respond to those needs in the future.

Again, if we are honest, Northern Ireland is somewhat of a latecomer to racial equality and anti-racism as part of the fabric of society. Not only do we have to now work on hearts and minds but we also as individuals as service providers have to look at what we need to learn to make society better both about the issues and also about how we can tackle them both in government, in the voluntary sector and in service providers generally. And undoubtedly, that learning process will take time.

The report today makes an important contribution to that learning process for public services and for individuals and organisation which provide them in Northern Ireland and I am confident that it will be of benefit to public service providers not just in Northern Ireland, but also as Ken has mentioned, those who are here today from the Republic of Ireland and indeed Scotland.

Now Philip in a few moments will tell you the finer details of the research methods used in the production of the report. It will not be possible due to time constraints for me to go through all the findings and all the recommendations but I want to bring some key findings to your attention. For example, there is clear evidence in the report that government here is already doing some good work in many areas. That includes employment, because I have got concerns and government has very strong views over the exploitation of migrant workers and that is one of the reasons that when it came before the House of Commons in 2004 the government and myself as Minister in a different department at the time and as a Member of Parliament supported the Gangmaster Licensing Act in 2004. This and other legislation will regulate the employment of migrant workers and ensures that there are good examples of good practice across Northern Ireland.

There are many already good examples of good practice such as O’Kane Poultry, where a fifth of the workforce is migrant workers. This company has set up specific initiative to help migrant workers settle into the community and I want to ensure that we encourage other employers to learn from good practice such as that at O’Kane Poultry. A second area of good experience is in health. The racial equality in health good practice guide produced recently concentrates on the quality and availability and accessibility of healthcare for minority ethnic service users. The guide defines barriers which these groups experience within the healthcare system in Northern Ireland and in Scotland there are a number of steps being taken to improve information available for health services for people from minority ethnic communities. For example, one very good scheme that I noticed recently was a hand held record of personal health that is being developed in consultation with travellers so that it can be carried around by individual travellers and should improve continuity of care and therefore their experience of the health service.

Good examples also in funding or part funding by government of interagency forum such as Ballymena Community Forum or the South Tyrone Empowerment Programme in Dungannon. These organisations provide, in my view, vital local services and advice to a range of ethnic groups and individuals and I would commend both organisations for their joined up approach in providing services. One of the issues we need to tackle is language barriers emerging repeatedly in the course of research and I believe the establishment to the regional interpreting service in Northern Ireland has been seen as a pro-active step by government and one which has resulted in improved levels of interpreting and translation services.

Scottish initiatives that we can learn from include translation of standard letters into 15 languages by for example Glasgow City Council Education Department and finally, an example of good practice in my own area of Ministerial responsibility that of criminal justice and policing. We have set up a multi-agency initiative to capture all types of hate crime from victims of crimes launched in South Belfast on a pilot basis in June of this year. We are looking now at how we can evaluate the collection of hate crime material so that we can look at whether we can take specific steps in government to make hate crime still further out of society than it currently is and should be.

Improving data collection on minority ethnic people is an issue across both Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic and data collection is a key component of our service delivery cause it does inform the provider, does provide information and does highlight gaps in inequalities of outcomes. We need to look at certainly now improving on accurate data collection, helping government bodies to set targets to help improve that service delivery for the future and government must take a fundamental look at data collection to develop standard practices which would ensure meaningful information is obtained and put to good use.

And above all, we need to ensure that we train staff because service delivery in all areas, whatever policy we set in government and whatever I say as a Minister or even Permanent Secretaries say in departments, the judgement on how services are delivered is very often by the first person a citizen comes into contact with at the very front end of the operation and whatever I say about ethnic diversity information, help, support, training is only as good as the first point of contact an individual has with the job centre, with the school, with the hospital or with the service that they want to come into contact with. We need to improve and look at how we can improve those training capacities so that the first person who meets a person from a community involved in the ethnic community areas they understand, know and have the recourse to both treat those individuals as fellow equal citizens but also meet their needs in a way that addresses the needs that they may have in our community.

Communication between staff and management is therefore essential and is an area that we in government have to look at in much more detail in the future. Training is important in improving service provision but it is a real important issue for the very reason that it provides the focus for those members of staff who will come into contact with individuals from the communities we are seeking to help and support today.

Government also as one of the largest employers in Northern Ireland will next month launch a specific package of training in diversity awareness for all civil servants. This will form a specially commissioned video and will include computer based tuition and I hope that will be a contribution from us as an organisation employing many thousands of people across Northern Ireland who come into contact at the front desk with individuals from ethnic minority communities.

So in conclusion, I want to say just from the front again simple things that are truisms today.  That racism is unacceptable. That hate crime is unacceptable but that takes many forms and the services that we provide as government, as businesses, as communities need to make sure that we involve, provide a decent level of service and understand the differences that people bring to those services in government and elsewhere. We need to make sure that the business of government has many challenges but that Northern Ireland will become a place where everybody is treated equal, everybody has the same level of respect, everybody has the same access to government services and the differences which we celebrate are not differences which cause disadvantage to people in our community. I welcome this report. I welcome your attendance today and I thank you for your contribution to this brief gathering of individuals. Thank you.”