Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Annual Report 2022 Published
Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Annual Report 2022 Published
Press Release
Disability discrimination the highest area of public contact representing 42% of all equality related concerns
Acted as amicus curiae in significant Supreme Court case about Traveller Accommodation Rights
Involvement as a third party intervener in case before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
Published first Evaluation of the Implementation of the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive Report on the State’s actions to combat human trafficking
128 recommendations for State action on civil and political rights presented to the UN to inform review of Ireland
New research on the Housing Assistance Payment and discrimination in rental sector
1800 public servants avail of new IHREC eLearning Module on Equality and Human Rights
€400,000 in grants to support 32 projects to advance economic equality and promote compliance of the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) has today published its 2022 Annual Report to the Houses of the Oireachtas. The report highlights significant developments for the Commission during its eight full year of work as Ireland’s national human rights and equality body.
Sinéad Gibney, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission stated:
“While marred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the grave suffering of Ukrainian people, we have also seen in direct response to the war, a new era of humanitarian cooperation across Europe, in which Ireland played its part.“The movement of Ukrainian refugees was a challenge for all European countries, and Ireland was no exception. Despite our warnings, the emergence of a two tier asylum system played out in front of our eyes – with Ukraine refugees experiencing a markedly different set of conditions to those in the wider international protection system.“The accommodation system for those arriving to seek international protection was already a system under strain, and now it is broken. We remain deeply concerned about the conditions in which many international protection applicants are living. It is critical that investment in a permanent system of accommodation for people claiming asylum here, that respects people’s rights and dignity, is prioritised.“The wider housing crisis persisted throughout 2022 and rising inflation and cost of living put pressure on large sections of Irish society to simply make ends meet. People who were unable to work due to illness or disability were and remain more at risk of poverty.”
THE ANNUAL REPORT 2022 HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
Direct Public Queries to our Your Rights service
In 2022 we saw 1,411 public queries on human rights and equality issues handled by the Commission’s Your Rights service.
Of the public queries to us:
The top public concerns related to the Equal Status Acts, focused on discrimination on the grounds of disability (42%), race (16%), gender (8%) and age (8%).
The top public concerns under the Employment Equality Acts focused on discrimination in employment and job seeking on the grounds of disability (39%), gender (16%) the race ground (12%) and age (12%).
The top three public concerns in relation to human rights focused on asylum and immigration (22%), homelessness, social housing and living conditions (16%), and health and bodily integrity (12%).
Legal Activity
We sought liberty to intervene in 6 new sets of proceedings, as amicus curiae (friend of the court) across a range of important human rights and equality questions, and we were granted leave to intervene in all of them. The cases focused on Traveller accommodation, the right to a fair trial, redress for sexual abuse in day schools, disability rights and citizenship.
We used our legal powers widely, including our involvement as a third party intervener in a case before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Two Codes of Practice, prepared by the Commission, including, a Code of Practice on Equal Pay; and a Code of Practice on Sexual Harassment and Harassment at Work were launched by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
IHREC as Independent National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking
We published our first Evaluation of the Implementation of the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive Report on the State’s actions to combat human trafficking. The report provides in-depth analysis of Ireland’s compliance with the Directive, and evaluates the State’s implementation efforts, with a view to establishing good practice approaches as well as identifying areas in need of improvement and reform.
Legislative observations
We made 11 legislative observations to the Oireachtas covering a diverse range of topics, including hate crime, inspection of places of detention, school admissions, safe access zones, Garda Síochána powers, Mother & Baby Homes payment scheme, and disability rights.
Influencing Policy and Practice
We made specific recommendations to Government and policy makers on An Garda Síochána Human Rights Strategy, the Referendum on Housing in Ireland, Junior Cycle SPHE Short Course Curriculum, changing gendered language in the Constitution and Welfare Indexation, the practice of linking social welfare payments in line with inflation.
We brought forward new research on the discrimination Housing Assistance Payment tenants face in accessing rental accommodation.
Funding of €400,000 was provided through the 6th year of our Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme to 32 projects nationally.
Monitoring Ireland’s Compliance with International Obligations
The Commission made recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council and to the Council of Europe on Ireland’s international obligations in relation to:
UN Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence
UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
European Social Charter
A Commission delegation attended the UN Civil and Political Rights Committee’s review of Ireland in Geneva in July 2022.
Implementing the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty
1800 public servants across 181 public bodies availed of our new online learning module to support public servants with an understanding of equality, human rights, the obligatory Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty and how to apply it in their work.
ENDS/For further information, please contact:
Karen Joynt, IHREC
M: 0851746883
Karen.Joynt@ihrec.ie
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
