Sinn Féin spokesperson for Health Liz Kimmins has said that Public Health legislation must be consistent with upholding people’s human rights and equality.
Liz Kimmins said:
“The Department of Health is currently running a public consultation on the development of a new Public Health Bill relating to public health emergencies, should they emerge.
“Any Bill brought forward must receive rigorous scrutiny and detailed consideration at the Health Committee.
“We believe it’s important that any legislation proposals that the Health Department comes forward with are consistent with upholding people’s human rights and equality.
“Sinn Féin will engage with any Bill on that basis.
“At last week’s Health Committee, I raised the level of public interest expressed in the consultation and the need for people to be made aware of the opportunity to have their views heard.
“The Department of Health has since extended the consultation period by 2 weeks to the 14th October.
“If anyone has any concerns I would encourage them to respond to the Department of Health consultation at: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/consultations/policy-proposals-inform-development-new-public-health-bill-northern-ireland”
