The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, has announced details of a three-year, £4.5m public awareness programme to address racism and to promote a more inclusive society in this State. Government and non-government organisations are to be drawn together in the delivery of the programme which will be designed to support local groups, involve the schools system and be broadly educational. The intention is that a plan of action will be put in place before Christmas. It sounds great. And it sounded great last December when ail pressure because of the treatment of asylum seekers, details of an antiracist initiative were first released.
There is nothing new in Government ministers seeking to make political capital out of positive developments and initiatives by way of multiple announcements. And, God knows, the Minister for Justice has had little opportunity for positive publicity where the treatment of refugees has been concerned. This time last year, these unfortunate people were being forced to queue in the rain and the cold to have their applications processed. And Minister of State, Ms Liz O'Donnell, described Government policy as "a shambles".
Some progress has been made since that time, both in terms of the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers and in the number of officials employed to deal with them. The ban on long-term asylum seekers working, while waiting for their applications to be processed, has been relaxed. There have been other developments. Mr O'Donoghue has signed the provisions of the Equal Status Act into law. This law prohibits the providers of goods and services, including accommodation, from discriminating against people on grounds of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, marital and family status, disability or membership of the traveller community. Last year, the Employment Equality Act outlawed discrimination in the workplace on the same nine grounds.
But not all developments have been so positive. The dispersal of asylum seekers around the country is creating administrative difficulties, particularly in relation to health care. The Irish Medical Organisation complained this week that local doctors are being overwhelmed by the high medical needs of the refugees and that no extra resources are being provided to deal with language difficulties and counselling. A withdrawal of services has been threatened. The backlog of asylum applicants has also continued to grow because the Department of Justice has been unable to recruit the extra personnel. The Irish Refugee Council estimates a current backlog of 13,000 persons, compared to about 9,000 at the end of last year. The number of applications for asylum are currently running at 1,000 a month, but only 550 cases are being processed.
In an attempt to get to grips with this situation, the Department will embark on a special recruitment programme next month, offering fixed-term contracts to retired public servants. A public campaign to address racism and to stimulate public awareness and understanding of the benefits of cultural diversity is an important development. But ministerial action will speak much louder than words.