Government Cuts Undermine Equality & Human Rights
11 Nov 2008
Congress today (November 11) expressed serious concern that the budgetary cuts imposed by government would undermine the country's Equality and Human Rights infrastructure.
"These wholly disproportionate cuts will do serious damage to our emerging equality and human rights infrastructure, with huge implications both for the upholding of individual human rights and our capacity to ensure equality standards are upheld, across society," said Congress Assistant General Secretary, Sally Anne Kinahan.
"Given the relatively small savings to the overall budget that these cuts represent, it is hard not to wonder whether there is some political or ideological motivation behind this move. Certainly, they make no financial sense," Ms Kinahan continued.
"The budget of the Equality Authority has been reduced by 43 percent which means that it will now be unable to carry out key functions. This coupled with the government fast-tracking of the decentralisation of the Authority to Roscrea, when decentralisation elsewhere has been effectively halted, will further hamper the agency's capacity to operate.
"It is worth noting that the cutbacks were announced in advance of a Value for Money Review being carried out by Deloitte Consulting. This hardly a glowing advertisement for evidence-based policy making, of which the government claims to be an adherent," Ms Kinahan said.
Further cuts to the budget of the Human Rights' Commission and to programmes that combat domestic violence place a very large question mark over the government's continued commitment to equality and fly in the face of the many equality objectives set out in Towards 2016, Ms Kinahan concluded.
ends
Congress Communications
Irish Congress of Trade Unions,
31-32 Parnell Square, D1.
Tel: (00 3531) 889 7799/ 087 917 4171
www.ictu.ie