THE GREEN Party's spokesman on equality will raise the proposed merger of five organisations with responsibility for different aspects of protection of human rights at the party's parliamentary party meeting tomorrow.
Ciarán Cuffe TD yesterday told a meeting arranged to oppose the merger that he agreed with the arguments made against it, and said he was writing to the Minister directly about the matter. "I will do my best to ensure it does not happen. I don't believe the case has been made for the merger," he said from the floor of the meeting. The various bodies should consider sharing premises and core activities, like human resources, he said. "There is a huge need at a time of cutbacks to protect the weakest and most vulnerable in society."
The Equality and Rights Alliance has been formed in response to the Government's proposal to merge the Equality Tribunal, the Equality Authority, the National Disability Authority, the Data Protection Commission and the Irish Human Rights Commission into one body. Earlier, the alliance chairwoman, Joanna McMinn of the National Women's Council, told the meeting the total budgets for the five organisations constituted less than 4 per cent of the overall budget for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, and that savings would therefore be minimal at best.
She pointed out that the Government's proposal was pre-empting an action plan for public service reform currently being worked on by a special taskforce.
The taskforce was appointed by the Taoiseach only last May following a review by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
"The five organisations are very different in type, function and statutory remit," she said. "A merger would not result in savings or simplify the delivery of services to people. In fact, it may well be the case that a larger body doing the same work will cost more and will be more confusing for those seeking to use their services."
David Joyce, equality officer with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), said during summer congress had reviewed the social and economic commitments contained in the last partnership agreement, Towards 2016. Their frustration at the lack of commitment to equality was exacerbated by the announcement of the planned merger of the five bodies, and Ictu had written to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to discuss the proposal.
John Douglas of Mandate, a member of the executive council of the Ictu, said bodies such as the Equality Authority "punched way beyond their weight" in defending the rights of the those otherwise unrepresented.
Donncha O'Connell, former dean of law at NUI Galway, said the proposal was less about cost-cutting and more about suppressing bodies which were doing their jobs well. "One cannot but fear that 'delivery simplification' will really mean a reduction in that which is being delivered," he said.
Michael Farrell, a member of the Human Rights Commission speaking in a personal capacity, said the proposal could undermine an important commitment in the Belfast Agreement. In that agreement "symmetry and equivalence" between human rights bodies North and South was very important, and human rights protections in the North would be threatened by any such unpicking of the agreement.
Sylvia Meehan, former head of the predecessor of the Equality Authority, the Employment Equality Authority, and now president of the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, said that in this instance "rationalisation" meant cuts. There had been no proper consultation, she said.