The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) recently provided legal assistance to a US national and disability advocate, who was granted leave last October by the High Court to challenge an immigration decision by way of judicial review.
The applicant sought to challenge the decision of the Minister for Justice to refuse an application to vary her Stamp 1 immigration permission to allow her to be self-employed or to start a business. The permission had been limited to her being in employment only, but our client, as a person with a disability, had self-employment opportunities available to her that she was wished to take up and pursued the challenge for that reason.
The Commission took on the case cognisant of the challenges for people with disabilities in accessing employment. In 2019, a report jointly published by the Commission found that the employment rate for people with disabilities (41 per cent) was 32 percentage points below the national average (73 per cent), highlighting a significant gap in employment.
The case has now settled in our client’s favour and the Commission welcomes the positive outcome. The client’s fresh application for a variation of her permission is now being reconsidered and the Commission continues to provide legal assistance.
Chief Commissioner Sinéad Gibney said:
“We are very happy to be able to assist our client in obtaining a favourable outcome in these proceedings. The European Commission Country Report for Ireland 2022 revealed that Ireland has the largest disability employment gap in the EU, at 38.6%. It is incumbent on us all to do everything we can to assist people with disabilities entering the labour force if they so wish. IHREC is continuing to assist our client in securing permission to be self-employed so she can positively participate in Irish society.”
ENDS/
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Clarkin, IHREC Communications Manager,
01 852 9641 / 087 468 7760
sarah.clarkin@ihrec.ie
Follow us on twitter @_IHREC
Editor’s note:
High Court leave to challenge: https://www.ihrec.ie/commission-acts-in-disability-advocates-legal-challenge-to-immigration-decision/
Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is an independent public body, appointed by the President and directly accountable to the Oireachtas. The Commission has a statutory remit set out under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act (2014) to protect and promote human rights and equality in Ireland, and build a culture of respect for human rights, equality and intercultural understanding in the State.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is Ireland’s national human rights institution and is recognised as such by the United Nations. The Commission is also Ireland’s national equality body for the purpose of a range of EU anti-discrimination measures.