The Government will be asked tomorrow to explain why it has not recognised Travellers as an ethnic minority when it is questioned by a UN committee on its record of tackling racism and discrimination.
The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Frank Fahey, will also be asked about official policies of "segregating" asylum-seekers through the dispersal programme and the deportation of non-national parents of Irish-born children.
The questions arise from the Government's implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
The areas on which the Geneva-based UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will seek information reflect the concerns of more than 40 non-governmental organisations.
In its first report to the UN committee, the NGO alliance outlined a series of concerns relating to the treatment of Travellers, asylum-seekers and immigrants.
The questions to be put to the Government, seen by The Irish Times, will focus mainly on aspects relating to the health, education and welfare of Travellers.
Mr Fahey will defend the Government's decision not to recognise Travellers as an ethnic minority and will argue that assertions that they are ethnically different from the majority of the Irish people have not been proven. He is expected to cite the findings of the 1995 task force report on the Traveller community which did not recommend they be identified as an ethnic minority. Officials also suggest he may make reference to research which suggests that the claim of being a separate ethnic group has only been made since the 1980s.
He will accept that Travellers suffer from exclusion, deprivation and discrimination, but will point to the €100 million spent on Traveller-specific programmes to improve their education, health, housing and other sectors,
More generally, the Government will say that the incidence of racism in Ireland is "relatively low" but is also expected to point to a series of measures which would show that it is not complacent about the issue.
NGOs, however, are expected to tell the committee that Travellers may be denied protection under the convention because of the Government failure to recognise them as an ethnic minority.
They will say funding for anti-racism initiatives has been cut and express concern at "institutional racism" at State level. They will also criticise the Government's dispersal and direct provision policy for asylum-seekers.
It will argue that the system has encouraged racism by reinforcing the belief that asylum-seekers are "spongers". The system has also restricted asylum-seekers' access to legal representation, healthcare, education, religious services and nutrition.
NGOs are also expected to restate their concern at the "failure" of the Garda to respond adequately to racist incidents and the lack of anti-racism training among members of the force.
