Human rights watchdog ‘concerned’ about direct provision

The newly-appointed head of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said the organisation has concerns about the lack of an independent inspection and redress regime for the State's asylum seeker accommodation network.

Emily Logan, who took over as its chief commissioner designate last week, said the lack of evidence about conditions in direct provision was due to the absence of independent inspection and redress. She said that "at the very least" the system should come under the ambit of the Ombudsman.

"The commission are concerned about direct provision," Ms Logan told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice today.

“There is no proper independent mechanism of inspection of what is going on. There is no proper mechanism for redress for either the children or the parents in direct provision... We haven’t put in place a framework to allow those families and those children to tell us exactly what is happening in the way that any other parent or family would be afforded in Ireland.”

The commission was created by the merger of the Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission - a controversial decision that the Fianna Fáil/Green coalition said was aimed at saving money but which critics saw as a downgrading of human rights and equality.

Ms Logan said she was surprised by how “demoralised” staff at the new body were - particularly those who came from the Equality Authority - but they were proud of the work they had done in recent years. “I came into an organisation that needs to be uplifted, that needs to be given a sense of vision, a sense of its future,” she said.

Referring to the scale of the work ahead, which will begin with a move to new premises and the hiring of almost 30 new staff, Ms Logan likened the new commission to “a start-up”.

In an address to the committee, Ms Logan said the “transparent” and “independent” manner of her selection was a model of how public appointments should be made. She said her nomination followed an open competition and a transparent and rigorous process that included two interviews by a group of international experts in human rights and equality.

“Crucially, not least given the ways in which public appointments have dominated public and political debate in recent weeks, I believe the transparent and independent nature of this process is of critical importance to establishing the credibility of the new body,” she said. Ms Logan also emphasises the independence of the commission and said she expected a positive, respectful relationship with the Department of Justice.

In response to questions from committee members, Ms Logan said the commission was in favour of Travellers being recognised as an ethnic group and would not “shy away from” economic, social and cultural rights.