Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Race Equality Directive, under which EU Member States, including Ireland, committed to implementing a legal framework to eliminate racial and ethnic discrimination in policy and practice. Yet, in 2020, young people in Ireland, people of different ethnicities and backgrounds, including Travellers and Roma, people of African descent, migrants…
Report to Council of Europe States Government Should End Opt-Out on Key Provisions of the European Social Charter The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (“the Commission”) has today challenged the State to drop its opposition to provisions of the European Social Charter (the Charter) which acknowledge the State’s responsibility to promote access to housing…
Commission Exercised Amicus Curiae Role in Supreme Court Case The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (the “Commission”) has welcomed today’s significant Supreme Court judgment as “a positive and progressive ruling for refugee rights in Ireland” in two cases involving family reunification for naturalised refugees, delivered coincidentally just ahead of World Refugee Day (20 June). In its…
Commission as Amicus Curiae Submits That Current Law Interferes with Constitutional Rights The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) has today appeared remotely before the Supreme Court as amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) in a high-profile Supreme Court case (Ali Charaf Damache v the Minister for Justice and Equality) which focuses on the…
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (the Commission) has today welcomed the stated commitment in the Programme for Government to end Direct Provision and replace it with a new International Protection accommodation policy centred on a not-for-profit approach. Dr. Frank Conaty, Acting Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission stated: “We…
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) has today welcomed the Government’s recommendation of eight new Commission Members to be proposed for appointment to serve on the Commission. The eight new Commission Members proposed are: Jim Clarken, CEO of Oxfam Ireland Michael Finucane, Solicitor Adam Harris, CEO and founder of AsIAm Kathleen Lynch,…
High Court Points to “Paradigm Shift” in the Way Disability is Viewed in Irish Workplaces The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (the “Commission”) has welcomed as “significant” today’s High Court judgment in a case examining the rights of persons with disabilities to have reasonable workplace accommodations made to facilitate their work. The case looked…
Imperative Department of Education actively pursues a fair and equal process for the system of calculated grades The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (“the Commission”) has set out to Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh T.D. that the process for the planned system of school-based calculated grades must be fair and not exacerbate…
Responding to the publication today of the 3rd Policing Authority report on policing performance in relation to COVID-19, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has reiterated its concerns about the need for An Garda Síochána to provide disaggregated data on policing activity. The Commission wrote directly to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on April 28th…
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has today contacted the Minister for Equality, Immigration, and Integration David Stanton T.D. about the management of a reported COVID-19 outbreak in the Skellig Star Direct Provision centre in Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry. It is reported that the Cahersiveen centre has experienced a serious outbreak of COVID-19 with 23…