Social Affairs

Travellers’ right to accommodation not in line with European Social Charter

Violation also found in relation to social housing as many local authority tenants reside in ‘poor housing conditions’

European Committee of Social Rights report noted the inadequate condition of many Traveller sites. Photograph: Tom Honan

Mark Hilliard
Wed Mar 20 2024 - 18:15

Irish standards regarding the right of Travellers to accommodation and the quality of social housing have still not been brought in line with European charter provisions, an updated report on Wednesday shows.

The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) has published its Conclusions 2023 report in respect of the Articles of the European Social Charter relating to children, family and migrants.

The charter is a Council of Europe treaty that guarantees fundamental social and economic rights as a counterpart to the European Convention on Human Rights. It is applied to a wide range of everyday human rights including employment, housing, health, education, social protection and welfare. Five report areas were released on Ireland.

The committee noted “multiple violations” of article 16 of its charter such as insufficient provision of Traveller accommodation and the inadequate condition of many Traveller sites. It also found there were inadequate legal safeguards for Travellers threatened with eviction.

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The Government had submitted that its Housing for All policy contained the specific objective to increase and improve Traveller accommodation, and that annual funding had been increased to €20 million.

A violation was also found in relation to social housing, with the committee noting a “significant number of local authority tenants resided in poor housing conditions”. It also considered a lack of up-to-date statistics on the condition of the housing stock and the slow pace of regeneration work on local authority estates.

The Government had argued that a national standardised stock condition survey template had been agreed and that funding had been allocated for an assessment of local authority housing stock within the next four-five years.

However, the position was criticised by several NGOs, noting a lack of State targets or clear timeline, “or any action plan against which progress… can be measured”.

Reports on five areas of concern regarding Ireland will also identify the “complete prohibition” of the right to strike for members of An Garda Síochána, or of a right to organise in the military, as being out of line with the charter.

Some action on collective complaints procedures had, however, helped lead to change. The report will acknowledge a remedy in relation to Ireland’s gender pay disparity.

“It considered that the introduction and gradual implementation of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act represented a progress in strengthening pay transparency,” it said.

“It also noted that Ireland had produced and analysed statistical data concerning the pay gap, which has been decreasing since 2014 when it stood at 13.4 per cent.”

A “positive evolution” was also recorded in female participation on boards of large listed companies. In 2019 this was at 22.4 per cent, against an EU average of 27.8 per cent. Last year, however, this grew to 36 per cent, above the 34 per cent European average.

“The ECSR found that this positive trend marked a measurable progress and, therefore, the situation had been brought into conformity,” it said.

Mark Hilliard

Mark Hilliard

Mark Hilliard is a reporter with The Irish Times

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