The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, is expected to raise serious concerns about funding for the new human rights body being set up in the Republic under the Belfast Agreement when she meets the Minister for Justice in Strasbourg today.
Mr O'Donoghue will meet Mrs Robinson today, at her request, before he attends the conclusion of the three-day European conference against racism, "All Different, All Equal: From Principle to Practice".
The conference has been attended by some 500 delegates from up to 50 countries, including Irish officials and non-governmental organisations.
Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, Mrs Robinson said she would talk to Mr O'Donoghue about the Human Rights Commission, which had a counterpart in the North set up in March 1999.
"I recognise the importance of it and it's not just a very significant additional protection for human rights and linking with the North's commission in Belfast, but also there's an international network which could protect in-country protection of human rights and that can't be done without adequate resources," she said.
The only appointee to date to the commission is its president, the former Supreme Court judge, Mr Donal Barrington. There is no indication of any imminent appointment of the eight commissioners.
It is understood the Department of Finance is insisting that the commission receive an annual budget of £600,000, a figure included as an indicative amount in the Act establishing the commission. The body's counterpart in the North receives £750,000 sterling annually and has had problems implementing its programme with such a budget.
There is concern in official circles that the commission would not be able to implement its powerful mandate with a budget of £600,0000. It is understood the Department of Justice is asking for £1.5 million for the body.
However, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties has said at least £3 million is necessary for the commission to work effectively. The Equality Authority receives annual funding of about £3 million.
"Asking people to serve on a commission which is financially strangled at birth before the commission itself is even appointed is invidious," said Mr Donncha O'Connell, the director of the ICCL in Dublin, yesterday.
Mrs Robinson said she would also stress in today's meeting with Mr O'Donoghue that Ireland must ratify the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It was "embarrassing at this stage" that Ireland had not done so, she said. Mr O'Donoghue is expected to announce to the conference that Ireland intends to ratify the convention shortly.
Mrs Robinson said more leadership on the issue of racism was needed in Ireland and other European countries, and it was important not to wait until a racist incident or attack had occurred to speak out. "There needs to be a sustained leadership from the top of government talking about the richness of diversity for a modern Ireland."
In her address to the conference on Wednesday, Mrs Robinson singled out Ireland, Finland and Spain as states where racist attitudes were emerging. She said she spoke on the issue recently with Spanish and Finnish leaders.
"What's really worrying is that both Ireland and Finland are prosperous and when you have racist and xenophobic trends at a time when a country has become more prosperous then that's an issue that needs to be looked at in depth and that needs leadership," she said.
The 41 member states of the Council of Europe, which is hosting the conference, will sign a declaration today committing themselves to work towards eliminating racism. They will also present a series of conclusions. Mrs Robinson said she felt the language in both the declaration and conclusions needed to be strengthened. She said the conclusions contained "a lot of `we should consider doing' rather than `we should do'."