Beefed-up human rights body gets power of inquiry

A beefed-up human rights agency — combining two bodies into one — will have the power to hold its own inquiries under proposed legislation.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is to be granted strong powers to conduct investigations.

The new agency will replace the Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority, whose merger was announced last October as part of the Government’s plan to axe State quangos.