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Strong Recommendation for Equality Complaint to Europe- May 25th
There was a strong recommendation for Equality & Rights Alliance (ERA) to lodge a legal complaint with the European Commission and to make a parallel complaint to the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament that Ireland is in breach of EU Equality Law.
The recommendation came out of a Roundtable held today to explore whether there were legitimate legal grounds for lodging such complaints. Equality & Rights Alliance is a coalition of over 90 civil society groups. It will begin to work on this recommendation immediately.
Referring to the blatant connection in the Ryan Commission Report between poverty and inequality of treatment, Joanna McMinn said that Ireland could ill afford to tear down its watchdog bodies. She said that the Report highlighted the weakness of state oversight.
“The Ryan Report shows how essential it is that Ireland has independent, well funded equality and human rights bodies to blow the whistle on behalf of vulnerable, and often voiceless, people at all times,” she said.
The ERA complaints will centre on the independence and viability of the Equality Authority following the 43% cut to its budget last October and other ongoing developments. A number of European and Irish anti-discrimination and equality lawyers set out how the disproportionate nature of the cuts to the Equality Authority (and the Human Rights Commission) was the nub of the case for complaint. This, combined with the threat of copy-cat actions by other European governments also looking to limit their equality bodies in the face of recession, meant that a complaint should be taken seriously by the Commission and the Parliament, they concluded.
Anti-discrimination lawyer Orlagh O’Farrell said that “in the face of recession, can anyone doubt the case, not for less protection from discrimination, but more?” Economising on the rights infrastructure was a false economy, she said, pointing out that in societies with greater income inequality, more people are sent to prison and less is spent on education and welfare, she said.
“This gives a hollow ring to our Minister for Justice’s explanation that he has halved the Equality Authority’s budget in order to permit increased spending on policing and tackling crime,” O’Farrell said.
The Roundtable was attended by two European Parliament candidates, Proinsias de Rossa (Labour) and Patricia McKenna (Independent). All candidates were invited to attend.
Lodging a legal complaint with the European Commission is the start of a process which can take two to three years. If accepted, the Commission must question the member state about issues raised within the complaint. If, after questioning, the complaint is upheld, it then moves to the European Court of Justice.
Equality Complaint to EU Commission Should be Taken Seriously Says Legal Expert- May 25th
An Irish expert on anti-discrimination law today said that it makes good sense to submit a complaint to the European Commission that Ireland is in breach of EU race and gender law.
Speaking ahead of a Roundtable on Monday, May 25th, anti-discrimination lawyer Orlagh O’Farrell stated the disproportionate nature of the budget cuts to the Equality Authority, combined with their severity, provided good grounds for the case for non-compliance with European equality directives.
She also said that there was a concern that other European governments may now also look on their equality infrastructure as a soft target for savings in difficult times. This copy-cat threat makes the consideration of an Irish complaint even more serious for the Commission, she said.
While speaking in a personal capacity, Ms O’ Farrell is the Irish member of the EU’s network of independent legal experts on anti-discrimination law. She has also worked as a lawyer with the European Commission.
“Where a body which previously was considered compliant with the Race Directive has half its budget withdrawn, the question arises as to whether it can effectively fulfill its tasks any longer,” she said.
“The resignation of the Equality Authority’s CEO and six of its Board members, on the grounds that the budgetary cut and decentralization measure have rendered it unable to carry out its functions under the directive, raises very serious doubts about continuing compliance with the obligations of the directives regarding equality bodies.”
In Budget 2009, the Equality Authority’s budget was cut by 43% and the Irish Human Rights Commission’s by 24%. Many other bodies within Justice were cut by 1-2%.
Ms. O’ Farrell questioned the Authority’s capacity to open and progress legal cases and its decision to drop two inquiries particularly. These developments would appear to conflict directly with provisions set down for equality bodies under Article 13 of the Race directive.
In 2008, 488 cases were underway. According to the Authority’s new strategic plan, this will drop to 200 per year, leaving a shortfall. Two possible inquiries, including one on sheltered workshops, were being considered for 2009. These have now been dropped.
The Roundtable is being hosted by Equality & Rights Alliance, a coalition of over 90 organisations working to strengthen equality and human rights in Ireland.
Equality & Rights Alliance will consider lodging a complaint, as citizens of Ireland, if it is strongly recommended by the variety of experts attending the Roundtable.
Euro Parliament candidates have been invited to the event and to pledge to protect and support equality and rights if elected. A list of those who have signed up will be displayed at the Roundtable. ERA members are also pledging to vote only for candidates who sign up for equality and rights.
Ireland's Economic Problems No Excuse To Send Human Rights Into Recession
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May 06, 2009 For many around the world, Ireland in the last ten years or so has represented two things: first, a strong voice for human rights and justice, from Presidents like Mary Robinson to prominent private citizens like Bono. And second, a powerful economic success story: the “Celtic Tiger,” which Atlantic was proud to play a part in through our substantial investments in strengthening higher education. The “Celtic Tiger” has quieted to a faint purr at the moment, with Ireland’s economy, like most in the world, thrown into deep recession. It will take time and considerable effort, but in time the Tiger will roar again. Of growing concern, though, is whether Ireland’s human rights reputation will survive the economic downturn. In a visit to Dublin last month, I was distressed to learn from the leading rights organisations supported by Atlantic that deep budget cuts in pivotal agencies threaten their very ability to do their jobs. My colleagues and I shared a meal with directors of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) and Amnesty International. We were told that The Equality Authority, an independent body set up under the Employment Equality Act of 1998, has lost 43% of its funding. The budget for the Human Rights Commission, which is responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights as defined in the Irish Constitution and international agreements to which Ireland is a party, was cut back by 24%. “Salvaging the economy is a vital task,” wrote Katherine Zappone and Michael Farrell, two veteran rights campaigners who are members of the Irish Human Rights Commission, “but we are concerned that an exclusive focus on economics will create a vacuum for the promotion of social justice and protecting the interests of diverse and vulnerable groups. Because the economy is in a recession, our national sense of justice and moral compass do not have to go into recession as well.” Huge shortfalls in funding for the two key statutory institutions established to protect and promote human rights and equality in Ireland is short-sighted and risky for Irish society. It threatens Ireland’s international reputation for promoting human rights and as a place where diversity and equality are embraced and protected. What are the implications of severely weakened state human rights institutions? The Equality Authority will have to cut its staff by a third. Much damage has already been done, as many experienced staff have already resigned or been transferred to other parts of the civil service. The amount of money saved by the Department of Justice with these cuts will be miniscule, relative to its overall budget – about €2.5 million out of €459.5 million. But the cost to the Authority’s work will be devastating. According to the Equality and Rights Alliance, the cuts will mean that no new case files can realistically be opened for the next two years; and, therefore, the Equality Authority will be unable to protect any new victims of discrimination in Ireland. |
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Agencies dedicated to human rights are a bargain. The savings gained from cutting them are minimal, but the costs of doing so are huge – and at precisely the time when the vulnerable and the voiceless need more protection, not less. |
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When you consider all the people in Ireland who are either young or old, gay or straight, Irish or foreign, married, single, widowed or divorced, parent or carer, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Hindu, or Jewish, male or female, very few people are left who might not need the help of either The Equality Authority or the Irish Human Rights Commission at some point in their lives. Where will people like Phyllis Fahey, who was refused a bank account because she was told she was too old, or women like Heather Lane, who was discriminated against and victimised because she was pregnant and had young children, turn to when they face discrimination? Ireland’s international reputation for protecting human rights has already come into question. A recent European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) report found Ireland to be among the worst of all countries in the EU when it comes to victims of racial discrimination and abuse. This situation is likely to worsen with unemployment levels projected to rise to nearly 17% by the end of 2011. Dr Maurice Manning, President of the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC), said the report, “clearly demonstrates that more needs to be done to protect people in Ireland against racist discrimination” and warned that “the recent budget cuts to the IHRC, Equality Authority and the closure of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) are only likely to worsen this situation.” The Irish Human Rights Commission is a small and traditionally under-funded organisation, nonetheless praised consistently as a strong and independent voice for human rights by the United Nations, the Council of Europe and others. As recently as last July, the United Nations explicitly called on the Irish Government to strengthen the independence and capacity of the IHRC by giving it adequate and sufficient resources to do its job properly. These budget cuts do just the opposite – further limiting its ability to conduct enquiries, take legal proceedings to vindicate human rights or provide legal assistance to Irish people. This is difficult to understand in light of the Irish Government’s sponsorship of a recent United Nations General Assembly resolution calling upon governments to strengthen national human rights institutions. “It’s unfortunate that Ireland is choosing to make the protection of human rights a casualty of the economic crisis rather than deciding to protect them at a time when they are most vulnerable. It is at times of economic crisis when human rights need to be protected the most,” said Martin O’Brien, the Belfast-based Director of Atlantic’s Reconciliation & Human Rights Programme. All governments, even the most progressive ones, rankle from time to time at the findings of independent agencies charged with holding them accountable for human rights standards. Repressive regimes shut down such agencies or even worse. Democratic ones sometimes yield to the temptation to weaken or silence their critics by control of the purse strings. The Reagan Administration in the United States did this with sharp cuts in legal services programmes and civil rights agencies, damage to the rights infrastructure that the nation is still struggling to repair. Compared to other functions of government, agencies dedicated to human rights are a bargain. The savings gained from cutting them are minimal, but the costs of doing so are huge – and at precisely the time when the vulnerable and the voiceless need more protection, not less. While the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has recently announced that that the budget cuts of the Equality Authority are to be reviewed, the cuts still stand for the time being. Atlantic joins it grantees and leading rights figures like Elizabeth Palm, Vice President of the European Court of Human Rights, in urging the Irish Government to reverse the damage by quickly restoring critical funds for human rights agencies now. Gara LaMarche |
