Eithne Lynch is Legal Officer with PILA.
A landmark collective complaint against Ireland, which outlines appalling and widespread sub-standard housing issues affecting thousands of people across 20 Local Authority housing estates, has been deemed admissible for further investigation by the European Committee of Social Rights.
The complaint was lodged in July 2014 by FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights, which has the required standing, in collaboration with its associate member in Ireland FLAC, and facilitated by PILA. The Committee’s decision was adopted on 17 March and made public on Tuesday 24 March. An online copy of the complaint can be accessed on the Committee's website here.
The Collective Complaint – the result of five years of evidence gathering across the 20 communities facilitated by Community Action Network and assisted by The Centre for Housing Law, Rights and Policy at National University Galway, Ballymun Community Law Centre, Dr. Rory Hearne of the Geography Department at National University Ireland Maynooth and the Irish Traveller Movement-These comprise standards relating to housing, social protection and anti-discrimination standards. The complaint states that poor conditions and other issues on estates violate key articles of the Revised European Social Charter, which Ireland signed up to in 2000, including the right to health and the right of family and children to have social, legal and economic protection.
The revised Charter is a regional human rights treaty protecting economic, social and cultural rights, drafted by the Council of Europe. It is a complement to the European Convention on Human Rights which protects civil and political rights. The Charter provides a platform upon which signatory states will be judged in relation to their compliance with and realisation of economic, social and cultural rights nationally.
Following the declaration of admissibility, the Irish Government have been invited to make representations to the Committee with a deadline of 28 May. Following this, it is most likely that FIDH will be given an opportunity to make further representations before a decision on the merits of the Complaint are published.
At a press conference yesterday (full details of which can be accessed at here), tenants from old and relatively new local authority estates spoke about the experiences of families living with dampness, mould, sewerage, poor maintenance and pyrite among many dire conditions. Tenants spoke of their frustration with successive Governments, resulting in a trend of neglect and a failure to progressively realise the rights set out under the RESC.
Debbie Mulhall, a resident of Dolphin House Estate, one of the country’s oldest Local Authority estates, said that breaches of tenants’ social and economic rights had resulted in a third-class citizenship for some 130,000 households and their families – or close to 355,000 people across the country.
“Your home and where you raise your family is so much more than just bricks and mortar. It is the starting place for so many basic rights essential for life– the right to health, the right to education, the right to work. We are being denied these basic rights and being treated like third class citizens simply because we are tenants of the state.”
Dolphin House is one of the few estates in the country earmarked for regeneration. However, Debbie Mulhall spoke about the devastating impact of delays in its realization. “The timeframe for regeneration is slipping drastically,” she said. “It is already well over 18 months behind time and at this rate it could be years before it really happens. In the meantime, tenants continue to live in conditions that we allege are unacceptable, unhealthy and uninhabitable. Many people have been moved out which means that our previously strong community is breaking down while we wait patiently for what we were promised.”
Mary Cooney, a resident at Balgaddy Development, explained that even in this relatively new local authority estate, independent architectural assessment carried out for the tenants has found poor quality materials and the presence of pyrite, resulting in unsafe buildings. The new buildings are already showing signs of dampness, mould and other signs of poor construction.
Another tenant, Carol Quinn, spoke about the abandonment of Bluebell Estate for decades, with tenants left to cope with serious dampness and mould problems. Most children and adults living with damp have asthma and other respiratory problems. Despite numerous requests for a proper assessment of the conditions and their impact, Carol said the Local Authority has never acted upon them.
For FIDH, the complaint is very important on a European level. “This will potentially affect millions of people living in sub-standard accommodation and suffering discrimination and social exclusion throughout Europe,” said FIDH vice-president and FLAC Director General Noeline Blackwell, welcoming the news. “We hope that other organisations and social movements will be inspired by today’s development to use this valuable mechanism to highlight and challenge rights violations across the board and enforce human rights at home.”
Certain international bodies holding participatory status with the Council of Europe, such as FIDH, are entitled to lodge complaints with the Committee. It examines the complaint and, if formal requirements have been met, declares it admissible. The State Party may then respond in writing, and a hearing may be requested by either party to the procedure. The Committee will then reach a decision based on the merits of the complaint. Where the charter has been violated, the State is asked to notify the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers as to what measures it plans to take to rectify the situation. This Committee of Ministers may adopt a resolution taking the State’s intention into account and based on social and economic policy considerations. Where a State does not indicate any plan to correct the situation, the Committee of Ministers can make a recommendation to the State on the matter. The European Committee of Social Rights will ultimately decide whether a violation of the charter has been adequately addressed by the State Party. More information on this is available on the Council of Europe website.
Click here to read the complaint.