Police (Northern Ireland) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I offer my vigorous support to a long-time friend and colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Laird, and fully endorse the Police (Northern Ireland) Bill, which is receiving its Second Reading. In particular, I commend this Bill for seeking to eradicate the inherently discriminatory practice of the 50:50 recruitment requirement for the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland had long been concerned with and, in more recent times, has embraced human rights. Years of conflict necessitated a strong discourse on human rights, which has subsequently found a home in the wide-ranging equality legislation which, indeed, is unique to Northern Ireland. However, it is of pressing and ongoing concern that we have the current recruitment requirement, which imposes a statutory quota of 50 per cent Roman Catholic and 50 per cent non-Roman Catholic on the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The initial difficulty with this quota is the effect of the two classifications, which bundles all non-Roman Catholic applicants into the one grouping and thus creates a ““privileged”” position for Roman Catholic applicants. This ““privileged”” position is often defined as positive discrimination. Northern Ireland stands alone as the only country ever to have used discriminatory quotas in employment. This method of recruitment does not exist within the realms of either the United States of America or European jurisprudence. It must be emphasised that if Northern Ireland is to progress and move beyond the confines of its complex history, it must take its places beside its neighbours with a mutual respect for equality of opportunity This presently is not the case. Northern Ireland receives special treatment through the use of discriminatory employment practices in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Quotas do not imbue our present, future or past with dignity, but seek to undermine existing human rights principles with an unfair practice which I feel patronises the effective progress that has been achieved through targets and greater promotion of public awareness of a career for young people in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. This has been more than illustrated by the surge in numbers of women joining the Police Service of Northern Ireland—a feat achieved through greater awareness and a shift in the culture of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. This system is fair and progressive and should be implemented in relation to recruitment of individuals from all sectors of Northern Ireland society, including individuals from ethnic minorities—such is the increasingly culturally diverse identity of Northern Ireland. We must move away from the ineffective and stringent pull of quotas, which do not reflect the contours of Northern Ireland, or indeed, human rights doctrines. In terms of financial efficacy, I have been reliably informed that it has cost in excess of £80 million to run the 50:50 recruitment requirement scheme in Northern Ireland. Will the Minister confirm that this figure is correct? The quota system also suffers from the effects of Sinn Fein/IRA refusing to endorse the Police Service of Northern Ireland. A more effective means of nurturing and maintaining cross-community support could be achieved through greater public awareness of the changes that have been brought about by the increased numbers of women in the PSNI and the shifts in attitude that this has brought about. People in Northern Ireland, irrespective of their community background, do not welcome the patronising effects of the current system. We certainly do not want a special legal position that manipulates our legal system by opting out of universal human rights standards in relation to employment. We want the dignity of being exactly the same as every other citizen of the European Union and every other signatory state of the European Convention on Human Rights. As I have mentioned, Northern Ireland has long been concerned with human rights, and this has duly informed the equality of opportunity that exists in the Northern Ireland job market today. It must be stressed that equality of opportunity irrespective of religious background has been achieved without the need for quotas, but with properly implemented and wide-ranging equality and employment legislation, underpinned with international human rights principles, notably from the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. I recognise that I am going over my time, but I will take one moment to finish. A further point to note is the recent development in the recruitment policies and practices of the Garda S&-acute;ochána in relation to Northern Ireland, which is bound to have a destabilising effect on the recruitment requirements in Northern Ireland. As the Minister may well be aware, there was a large recruitment fair in Belfast yesterday, and the Garda S&-acute;ochána had a stall there for the first time in its history.