A critical analysis of the rights and justice situation in this State has been published by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. It found Ireland to be one of the richest and most corrupt states in the EU which, at the same time, has some of the highest rates of poverty, especially of child poverty. The Government had cut taxes and distributed in favour of higher earners, it said, with the result that Ireland was now one of the most unequal societies in Europe.
The Trust, which promotes the rights of individuals and encourages accountability and responsiveness in governments, operates mainly in Britain and Northern Ireland, but has had a presence here since 1994.
The Trust acknowledged the analysis by Mr Brian Harvey might be regarded as "bleak", but said it was published as a useful contribution to public debate. The standards of human and civil rights here were found to be below internationally acceptable levels and the treatment of travellers, refugees and asylum seekers was of particular concern. The State had the second fastest-growing prison population in Europe; padded cells were widely used to imprison the mentally ill; prison medical services were probably the worst in Europe and the use of non-custodial penalties was small by international standards. In addition, people on low incomes did not have ready access to justice and the Special Criminal Court, which sits without a jury, continues to operate.
Developments arising from the Belfast Agreement were of particular interest to the Trust. In that regard, Mr Harvey said it was vital that the work of the Human Rights Commission, established under the Agreement, should be monitored on a consistent basis and he complained that its establishment had been slow and marred by cronyism. The report drew attention to the lack of an independent police complaints procedure in this State, such as now exists in Northern Ireland. And it regretted there were no effective safeguards to prevent the ill-treatment of prisoners. The catalogue of failings and inadequacies was long and depressing. The comfortable assumption that rising gross domestic product had positively transformed this society for everyone was exposed as a fraud.