GOVERNMENT POLICY towards the Equality Authority could see it brought before the European Court of Justice, Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa has warned.
He said he asked the EU commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, Vladimir Spidla, to assess the implications of the cuts in the authority’s budget in the light of the resignations of its chief executive, Niall Crowley, and board member Therese Murphy.
“Before these cuts were made, the commission had already issued the Government with a formal warning concerning its failure to live up to its commitments under the Race Equality Directive,”
Mr De Rossa said. “The Government’s latest strategy of undermining the Equality Authority on top of this could see it brought before the European Court of Justice.”
He said that the European Commission had informed him that the 43 per cent cut to the budget may be a breach of the European Race Equality Directive.
“The commission has replied that a budget cut in itself does not constitute a breach of the directive ‘unless it is so significant as to make it impossible for the equality body to function’,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Equality and Rights Alliance, set up to combat cuts to human rights bodies, has challenged figures given to the Dáil by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern relating to expenditure by the Equality Authority.
Some of this was provided by the European Commission and other sources, it said, adding: “The Minister stated that in 2007 the Equality Authority spent €220,000 on public relations.
“The Equality Authority does its own PR work and no such expenditure appears on the annual accounts.”
The €614,000 spent on the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All included €150,000 provided by the department, and prompted the European Commission to provide a further €300,000 to ensure that its work could continue.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Minister confirmed that payment to Equality Authority board members of €9,000 a year started in September 2007.