THE COUNCIL of Europe has warned that budget cuts in the State could risk endangering the human rights of citizens.
Thomas Hammarberg, the council’s commissioner for human rights, yesterday released his report following a visit to the State in June.
The council, which comprises 47 member states and is completely separate from the EU, has expressed concern that austerity measures could unjustly harm a vulnerable groups in the country.
“Budget cuts planned in Ireland may be detrimental for the protection of human rights. It is crucial to avoid this risk, in particular regarding vulnerable groups of people,” he said.
The commissioner pointed to the important role played by rights organisations in the State and called upon the Government to protect the independence and effectiveness of these bodies and to avoid limiting their capacity by subjecting them to budget cuts and staff reductions.
Coming a day after Travellers joined a protest in Dublin because educational support systems had been removed, the report called on the Government to abstain from any cuts in the Travellers’ education allocation.
In his report the commissioner asked the Government “to assess carefully all budgetary cuts in order to avoid any undesired effects”, pointing specifically to health, housing and education.
Mr Hammarberg also expressed concern about the allegations of neglect and abuse of older people residing in privatised care homes, adding that investigations into the claims should be done with a view to strengthening the protection of residents.
“The more the ageing population increases, the more important it becomes that social protection systems, healthcare, housing policies and also anti-discrimination legislation including in the labour market, are suitable for older people,” he said.
Other areas of concern for the commissioner were that no legislation had been introduced to give proper legal recognition to transgender people, that progress in the field of mental healthcare remained slow and that the immigration system needed improvement and simplification.
The report encouraged the Republic to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a matter of priority and to sign and ratify the new Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence.
Welcoming the report, president of the Irish Human Rights Commission, Dr Maurice Manning, said the report had raised many of the concerns that his organisation had highlighted on numerous occasions in the past.
“In relation to those recommendations in the report which the commission has itself previously highlighted, it is time for the Government to take action,” he said.
Dr Manning welcomed the importance the commissioner placed on enhancing the independence of existing human rights bodies in times of budget cuts. “His statement that they should be exempted from the current moratorium on recruitment in the public sector is especially timely.”