To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 19 October (WA 49) concerning appointments to the Northern Ireland Equality Commission, what section of the community each member of the commission represents; and on what basis the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is satisfied that this statutory obligation has been met. [HL5835]

Individual commissioners are not appointed to represent particular sections of the community in Northern Ireland. The duty placed on the Secretary of State by Section 73(4) of the Northern Ireland Act is to “as far as practicable secure that the commissioners, as a group, are representative of the community in Northern Ireland”.

It would not be appropriate to specify the community background of individual commissioners, which falls within the definition of personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998. Of the 16 commissioners, nine declared their background as that of the Protestant community, five declared their background as that of the Catholic community and two declared that they do not have a Protestant or Catholic community background. The latest available census statistics (2001) show that 53 per cent of people in Northern Ireland declared their background as that of the Protestant community, 44 per cent as that of the Catholic community and 3 per cent as neither community background.

All appointments were made following fair and open competition on the basis of merit and the Secretary of State is satisfied that all statutory obligations have been met, including the statutory duty to secure representativeness on the commission, as far as practicable.