Conclusion 9

We acknowledge that our direct responsibility is to scrutinise the work of the Northern Ireland Office of the UK Government rather than The Executive Office of the Northern Ireland Executive, but many of the findings of our report bear upon the role and responsibilities of that department. These are important issues which affect those living in Northern Ireland and the dignity and respect that should be The experiences of minority ethnic and migrant people in Northern Ireland 21 common to all. For that reason, we would be very grateful if The Executive Office could seek to respond to this report in three months’ time, setting out: • its general response to the findings and the evidence received during our inquiry, and particularly as they relate to the absence of important data on minority ethnic and migrant people and the relative weakness of the legislative framework in Northern Ireland in respect of hate crime and anti-discrimination legislation; and • an update on recent progress made by the department in this area, specifically on the implementation of the actions contained within the 2015 Racial Equality Strategy.