Call for debate on rights report

A DÁIL debate on a European human rights report was demanded by Labour’s spokesman on foreign affairs Michael D Higgins.

He said Thomas Hammarberg, human rights commissioner at the Council of Europe, had visited Ireland last November.

“Mr Hammarberg has produced a report, having had a conversation with the Taoiseach and a number of Ministers. The Government has issued its response, point by point, to the eight different chapters in Mr Hammarberg’s report. It is very important that we, as a parliament, have an opportunity to debate the Government’s response given that it has already made it.”

Mr Higgins added that the substance of the response also needed to be debated, given that it raised very serious issues across the range of human rights.

“There are 700 amendments to the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, which is at committee stage in the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights. It would be very valuable for us to debate Mr Hammarberg’s report before we proceed much further in respect of proceedings in the committee.”

He claimed there was confusion as to who had responsibility in the Government for human rights.

“My memory tells me it was once associated with the Minister of State with responsibility for development. Deputy Conor Lenihan then became Minister of State with responsibility for integration policy. Where does responsibility for human rights lie? Has it been absorbed back into the Department of Justice, which will proceed to look at it and judge itself, or is it back in the Department of Foreign Affairs, where it is perceived as something exotic and irrelevant?”

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin said the Government would be very open to a debate on the matter.