COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF IRELAND

CESCR
28th session
2 May 2002
Morning



National Anti-Poverty Strategy Launched,
Poverty Indicator Falls, Delegation Says



The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning concluded its consideration of a second periodic report from Ireland with a Government delegation saying that Ireland was the only European Union country to formally adopt an official global poverty target by launching the National Anti-Poverty Strategy.
The 22-member high-level Irish delegation, led by the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, responding to questions raised by the Experts, said that the Government had spent 81 million Euro since 1996 on new accommodations and the refurbishment of existing Traveller specific accommodation. Current funding for homeless services by all local authorities throughout the country had increased over nine-fold between 1997 and 2002, rising from 4.4 million Euro to 41 million Euro in 2002.
Answering a question on abortion, the delegation said that the number of pregnant women seeking abortions in the United Kingdom was of concern to the Government of Ireland; consultations had been provided for women seeking to practice abortions before their decision to do.
The delegation said that the poverty indicator had fallen from 10 per cent in 1997 to 6 per cent in 2000; and the target was to reduce the level of poverty to 2 per cent by 2007; the National Anti-Poverty Strategy had been launched in 1997 by the Government; and Ireland was the only European Union country to formally adopt an official global poverty target.
Responding to a question by an Expert, the delegation said that it was not factual that some 8,000 intellectually disabled persons were living in deplorable conditions; the Government had invested quite a big sum to improve their living conditions, including their housing quarters; and they were living in residential areas with full accommodations.
The Committee will release its concluding observations and recommendations on the second periodic report of Ireland towards the end of its three-week session on 17 May.
Ireland is among the 145 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and as such it must submit periodic reports to the Committee on how it was implementing the provisions of the treaty.
Before adjourning its morning meeting, the Committee briefly went into private session to discuss draft concluding observations and recommendations on reports already considered.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the initial report of Benin (document E/1990/5/Add.48).

Discussion
Responding to questions raised by Committee Experts in the previous meeting, the members of the Irish delegation said that concerning the question of recognition of diplomas, a body would be set up to harmonize the values of diplomas obtained abroad, particularly those held by refugees. A system of equivalence would also be initiated to facilitate the use of their diplomas.
The evaluation of the health situation was one of the elements of the poverty eradication strategy which was at present taken care by the Combat Poverty Agency, the delegation said.
Concerning persons with disabilities, the delegation said that there was an agency on accessibility in which disabled persons were represented to deal with issues on accessibility of buses and trains. The Government had also increased its allocation for the needs of the disabled persons.
The conditions of women and their participation in public affairs had been improved, the delegation said. Their number in the judiciary and in municipalities had also been increased. The under-representation of women was due to the fact that they were involved in raising their children and mostly they spent their time in the house. The Government had strengthened equality of women and men and women's participation in political parties was also encouraged.
The Government had designed a new strategy for the enjoyment of the right to health with the idea of strengthening equal access to hospitals services, the delegation said. The number of hospital beds would be increased to avoid the long waiting period to be admitted.
Asked why Ireland did not ratify the ILO convention on indigenous people, the delegation said that the Government had acceded to all other conventions, including the ILO Convention No.182 on the worst forms of child labour. In addition, Ireland had ratified the European Social Charter, including the Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and Their Families.
The rate of unemployment had been maintained under 5 per cent, the delegation said, adding that measures had been taken to incite people to get employment. Programmes had also been implemented to assist persons unemployed for long periods. Additional measures were also taken to strengthen the provision which prohibited abusive dismissal.
On the issue of social housing, an Expert asked about the acceptable length of time to have access to social housing accommodations. The Expert continued to ask about the situation of 8,000 intellectually disabled persons who were reportedly living in deplorable conditions; if better accommodations were provided they might have led independent lives. On Travellers' accommodation, the situation on the ground had not improved as the delegation had indicated, the Expert said. About 1,200 travellers' families lived in camps without any equipment. In addition, the "bill on housing and miscellaneous provisions" was enacted without consulting the Travellers themselves, which was in contravention of the guidelines of the General Comment No. 7. No prior consultation of the National Travellers Consultative Agency was held; and no replacement was provided for the eviction of those people. It was also time that Ireland adopted a right-based approach on economic, social and cultural rights after 12 years of its ratification of the International Covenant.
There were two kinds of medical services in Ireland: public and private, an Expert said. Those who had lower incomes went to the public hospitals while the upper income strata went to the private ones. Was there a difference in treatment? In addition, did Ireland participate in para-Olympic games?
In response to questions raised by Committee Experts, the Irish officials said that affordable housing units had been made available to people. In addition, the Government had taken measures to meet the housing needs. The housing standards, accessibility and affordability had been improved as in any other developed nations. The basic aim of the State's housing policy was to enable every household to have an affordable dwelling of good quality, suitable to its needs, in a good environment.
A long-term strategy had been designed to resolve the problem which was now temporarily eased by the accommodation of the needy, the delegation said. In addition, the Government had spent 81 million Euro since 1996 on new accommodations and the refurbishment of existing Traveller specific accommodation. A further 23 million Euro had been allocated in 2002. Many Travellers were living on the road side. Current funding for homeless services by all local authorities throughout the country had increased over nine-fold between 1997 and 2002, rising from 4.4 million to 41 million Euro in 2002.
With regard to the homeless, the delegation said that according to recent assessments, there were a total of 5,234 persons categorized as homeless in the country. Not all persons identified as homeless in the assessment of housing needs were in need of emergency accommodation; some of them would be staying in temporary accommodation with family or friends until suitable accommodation would become available. The Government had launched its "Integrated Strategy of Homelessness and it was offering a new approach to the way in which services for the homeless were to be planned and funded.
The poverty strategy was based on the improvement of all services, including health, the delegation said. The promotion of a right-based approach in the improvement of social services would enable the Government to extend services to all sectors of the society so that no one was excluded and marginalized. A consistent poverty indicator had been established to define poverty in Ireland. The poverty indicator had fallen from 10 per cent in 1997 to 6 per cent in 2000. The target was to reduce the level of poverty to 2 per cent by 2007. The National Anti-Poverty Strategy had been launched in 1997 by the Government. Ireland was the only EU country to formally adopt an official global poverty target.
It was not factual that some 8,000 intellectually disabled persons were living in deplorable conditions, the delegation said. The Government had invested quite a big sum to improve their living conditions, including their housing quarters. They were living in residential areas with full accommodations.
The number of pregnant women seeking abortions in the United Kingdom was of concern to the Government of Ireland, the delegation said. Consultations had been provided for women seeking to practice abortions before their decision to do.
On the question of public and private universities, the delegation said that only private colleges had been developed in the country and not universities. Out of 120,000 students, only 5,000 were in private institutions. There was no information on the influence of the church on private colleges.
In 2002, the Government had supported the para-Olympic games spending 350,000 Euro, the delegation said. For the last 3 years, the Government had increased its funding to para-Olympic sport activities. In 2003, Ireland would host the annual para-Olympic competitions.



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