The Constitutional Convention has voted in favour by 85% to afford greater importance to economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights in the Irish Constitution. The Convention was established in 2012 to discuss proposed amendments to the Constitution – click here to read a Bulletin article from November 2012.
A report from the Convention was sent to the Government which will decide on whether or not to hold a referendum on this latest development.
Convention members heard arguments both in favour and against the inclusion of ESC rights in the Irish Constitution. Former Minister for Justice Michael McDowell argued against the inclusion of these rights. He said that “Article 6 of the Constitution stated that all powers to decide national policies derived ultimately from the people and that this meant questions of economic, social and cultural national policy should be decided by the people, in the Oireachtas and judicial powers were correctly confined to the areas of civil and political rights and Constitutional rights.”
Dr Mary Murphy, chair of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission argued in favour of the inclusion of ESC rights. She said the inclusion would guarantee “the totality of human rights guaranteed in the Constitution”. She said that the fears that the inclusion of such rights would interfere with the separation of powers were completely unfounded. Colm O’ Gorman, Amnesty Ireland Executive Director was also in favour of the inclusion of ESC rights into the Constitution. In arguing his case he said that “what we are advocating is neither radical, not revolutionary. We are in a moment of change. We are emerging from some of our darkest economic days, while looking to the centenary of our birth. We must consider how we might do things differently. How we ensure that our country serves its entire people, and makes decisions in our collective interest. Placing ESC rights in our constitution will not cure all our ills. But it will require that government design systems that prioritise good, evidence based decisions, in the interest of all our people.”
The Convention voted to highlight the following rights to be specified in the Constitution: housing rights, social security, essential health care, rights of people with disabilities, linguistic and cultural rights and rights covered in the International Covenant on ESC rights.
Click here to read the full Press Release from the Constitutional Convention
Click here to read the full report of the Convention in the Irish Times