Minister for Social And Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin, told reporters on Friday that the Department is engaged in an equality review of the social welfare code.

Ian in the comments poses the question…

Is this the review announced by Coughlan in 2004?

“As I outlined, a key objective of the Bill is to remove the difference between the statutory and administrative schemes in the treatment of couples. Sections 18 and 19, which define “spouse� for the purposes of both scheme types, are designed to restore the position which obtained before the decision in the free travel case I mentioned earlier. I stress that the measure is an interim solution, pending an extensive review of the social welfare code in the context of the principles of the equal status legislation. The purpose of the review will be to ensure that any difference of treatment on any of the discriminatory grounds are justified by a legitimate social policy objective and that the means of achieving that objective are necessary and appropriate. It is expected that the review will take some years to complete, as it will examine complex issues with potential implications for matters outside the scope of the social welfare code. The review will be conducted in consultation with interested parties, including other Departments. The proposed format will be agreed with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.�

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=SEN20040323.xml&Page=1&Ex=236#N236

Or did the review only start in 2007?

http://www.welfare.ie/equalityreview.html

More information on the review in the next few days including submissions from NGO’s and others and expected completion dates etc.