Ireland is in the middle of an equality crisis as well as an economic one, where cuts to the country’s “equality-infrastructure” are undermining democracy, a conference in Dublin heard today.
Niall Crowley, former chief executive of the Equality Authority, told the Amnesty International event that as a response to the crisis the Government should be developing equality legislation and reinforcing “equality infrastructure”.
“Instead we witnessed the dismantling of this infrastructure as both the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission have been rendered unviable due to disproportionate budget cutbacks,” he said.
Mr Crowley stepped down as chief executive of the Equality Authority last December following the refusal of the Minister for Justice to halt the decentralisation of the office to Roscrea, Co Tipperary, and to restore some of the funding so the reduction to its budget would be 32 rather than 43 per cent.
Evidence of the crisis is in the “high levels of discrimination, significant concentrations of wealth, high levels of income inequality and limited ambition for equality,” Mr Crowley said.
“In a context of economic crisis, equality issues are deemed inconvenient and irrelevant. This is a mistake.
“Far from irrelevant, equality is key to business survival and societal well-being in economic crisis,” he added.
Amnesty International Ireland programmes director Noeleen Hartigan told the conference the Government has “failed” human rights in its recent funding cuts.
Ms Hartigan said there is a risk the most marginalised in society will be further disenfranchised during the current recession and she called on the Government to introduce a system to guarantee social justice in decision-making in Ireland.
