The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has launched its Strategy Statement for the next two years. The Strategy sets out five priorities on which the Commission will focus on from 2022 to 2024: Economic Equality, Justice, Respect and Recognition, Futureproofing and Public Sector Duty.
In order to minimise economic inequality, which is now manifesting in particular through protracted housing, homelessness, and through the accommodation crisis, the IHREC stated it will seek to influence policy and expenditure on appropriate housing that responds to needs of specific marginalised groups and take on legal cases that protect the right to housing, as well as seek the development of a National Action Plan for Care. The IHREC will also address legislative and policy gaps for the establishment of a Living Wage, strive to enshrine in law the right to collective bargaining along with socio-economic status as a ground in equality legislation.
In defending justice and the rule of law, the Irish Human Rights Commission aims to reduce deficits in access to justice, eliminate administrative delays in the international protection system, citizenship and visa decisions and in ending Direct Provision, ensure that public powers are exercised within legal limits and that the judicial review process is effective. Actionable points within this framework include monitoring and reporting the State’s COVID-19 response, the implementation of the White Paper on Direct Provision, the impact of Brexit on human rights and equality in Ireland, the exercise of police powers and executive detention, along with broadening access to legal aid, assisting individuals to defend their rights in the Courts and in the Workplace Relations Commission, and addressing legislative gaps related to hate crime, spent convictions, racial profiling, family reunification in the International Protection regulatory framework, and investigations into wrongdoings of the State.
To promote inclusivity, respect and recognition of diverse identities, the IHREC aims to push for the full implementation of the National Action Plan Against Racism, publish case studies of discrimination and racism against Travellers and Roma communities, propose a framework for the investigation of institutional racism, oversee the adoption of the Optional Protocol to UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and promote UNCRPD compliant legislative reform.
Futureproofing refers to assessing the unequal impact of COVID-19 and climate change on vulnerable groups of society and identifying potential protective measures for equality and human rights abuses in future crises. The vulnerable groups are, in particular, people living in congregated settings or in substandard accommodation, and digitally excluded people. The IHREC hopes to achieve this through dialogue with the groups most adversely affected by the pandemic, by establishing mechanisms for them to voice their needs, and by monitoring the number of people included in these groups.
The Public Sector Duty refers to the obligation set out in Section 42(1) of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014 for public bodies to oversee the elimination of discrimination, promotion of opportunity equality and protection of the human rights of its members. To enhance the role of the Duty in the exercise of powers by public bodies, the Irish Human Rights Commission set out to conduct a review under Section 42(7) of the IHREC Act, to make recommendations and support to the Government on the implementation and enforcement of the Duty where appropriate, to develop a ‘Code of Practice’ for Public Bodies to comply with the duty and establish other procedural policies within IHREC related to non-compliance with the Duty. The IHREC will also invite the Government to establish an expert unit on the Duty, which will offer guidance and professional education on the implementation of the Duty to Government departments.