New legislation providing for an enhanced role for the Irish Human Rights Commission will be published in the autumn, the Minister for Justice said today.
Alan Shatter was launching the annual report of the commission today. “We are reviewing the architecture of our human rights infrastructure to ensure that resources are used efficiently,” he said. “It is my intention to facilitate the commission playing an enhanced role.”
Among the reforms to be brought in under a new statute would be having the commission report to the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, he said.
He also said that it was important the commission had funding to appear in cases, rather than relying on pro bono work in cases in which it appeared as amicus curiae (friend of the court).
“I have a personal concern about [the commission's] funding,” he said. “The Comptroller and Auditor General made reference to the difficulties caused by the cuts in its funding.”
The Minister said he and other Opposition spokespeople had benefited from the work done by the commission on the Immigration Bill, which had been redrafted twice. The third version had been re-entered, and would come before the Oireachtas Committee in the autumn with over 300 amendments from him, which he said he hoped to publish in the coming weeks.
“It is a matter of concern that the commission was unable to contribute to the third version of the Bill because of a lack of resources,” he said.
Mr Shatter also stressed the importance of integrating minority ethnic groups into Irish society. “I reject the notion of parallel societies and belief that integration and not multiculturalism is the approach we have to take,” he said. “It is imperative that we encourage immigrants to be part of mainstream Irish society and not to perceive themselves as outsiders living apart from it.”
The president of the IHRC, Dr Maurice Manning, said new measures should be introduced to underpin the commission's independence and autonomy.
He outlined six principles that should inform any new legislation.
These were independence, so that the commission could provide strong independent oversight of all State institutions; fidelity to the architecture established by the Belfast Agreement, which set up the commission; abiding by the standards of the UN Paris Principles on human rights institutions; the enhancement of the perception of its independence by reporting directly to the Oireachtas rather than a Government department; a transparent and credible appointment process for commissioners and adequate resources to carry out its mandate.
He pointed out that the commission had lost over half its staff and 40 per cent of its budget since 2008. Some of its work was now supported by Atlantic Philanthropies, by the pro bono work of members of the Law Library and by interns, which "kept the ship afloat". This was not sustainable, he said.
The chief executive of the commission, Eamonn Mac Aodha, appealed for the establishment of a mechanism by which the Cabinet would ensure that all recommendations from the commission were considered by the relevant Government department or agency. He said that the commission's budget for 2010 was just over €1.5 million, which made a difficult position almost impossible.