White 'hopes to protect' equality bodies

Green Party Minister Mary White has said it is her “absolute wish” that no further cuts be made in the budgets of agencies who deal with equality issues.

The Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority were two of the first organisations to suffer the brunt of Government cutbacks. The IHRC had its budget cut by 32 per cent while the Equality Authority’s chief executive Niall Crowley resigned in protest at a 43 per cent cut to its budget.

In addition Combat Poverty was abolished and the National Consultative Committee on Racism was stood down.

Equality campaigners accused the Government and, in particular, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern, of pursuing an agenda against such organisations.

Ms White, who is now Minister of State with special responsibility for equality and human rights said there was nothing to be gained from looking back.

“We are working now towards the budget and we have to try and make sure that we have a very even hand,” she said.

“In the areas of my competence, I will be looking at where severe cuts were put in place at the last budget and try and protect those institutions as far as possible.”

Ms White said she would be bringing forward a new initiative to monitor racism in Ireland to determine the extent to which it is prevalent in the country, but it would not involve monitoring done by the gardaí as many foreign nationals do not believe in going to the police.

“I’m coming up with something innovative that has not been tried before. It is slightly under wraps until I dot all the “Is and cross all the Ts,” she said.

“It will certainly give an indication if there are low levels of racist incidents or xenophobics or downright ugly incidence of racism in our country.”

Speaking at the launch of the human rights commission's annual report for 2009, its president Dr Maurice Manning said he would not be following the example of the North’s chief juman Rights Commissioner Monica McWilliams who quit her post early because of funding cuts.

“This is a problem and we’re going to fight our way through it,” Dr Manning said.

The commission’s budget was cut from €2.342 million in 2008 to €1.6 million last year.

He said it was able to keep going with the support of Atlantic Philanthropies last year which funded its education awareness programme.

Dr Manning said the caseload of the commission increased last year and gave the lie to some suggestions that bodies like it were a “luxury the country can ill-afford” in times of recession.

Ireland’s human rights record is set to be scrutinised by the UN next year.

The commission said the Government must make a number of voluntary pledges in advance of that review.

Those include ending slopping out in Irish jails by 2012 and the ratification of the UN Convention on the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities by 2012.

It also wants a promise that the Government will work with the commission on a new programme of training on human rights for the civil and public service.