Legal rights group backs European call over ethnic discrimination

Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) has backed a call by the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) for the results of social welfare appeals to be published and for all Traveller discrimination complaints to be heard by the new Workplace Relations Commission.

ECRI, a Council of Europe body, monitors racism and the treatment of ethnic minorities in all 47 European countries.

Its 2013 report on Ireland called on the Government to publish decisions of the Social Welfare Appeals Office in relation to the Habitual Residence Condition, which is used to prevent payments to groups, including asylum seekers, based on ties to Ireland.

In a new report on implementation, ECRI said only “a very low number of new appeal cases” had been published so far.

FLAC said it has repeatedly raised the question of publishing social welfare appeals decisions as standard.

Ciarán Finlay, legal and policy officer at FLAC, said: “All significant decisions should be published in order to ensure consistency of decision-making and so that claimants and their advisors can know the basis on which decisions are made.

“It’s worth noting that the United Nation’s Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also emphasised the need for consistency and transparency in social welfare appeals decisions during Ireland’s review last year.”

ECRI had also called for complaints of discrimination in the supply of goods and services to be heard outside of the court system.

Its new report expresses concern that Traveller complaints concerning discrimination by pubs and hotels are excluded from Ireland’s new Workplace Relations Commission.

FLAC said that complaints of discrimination by licensed premises should be dealt with by the same independent, specialised body as all other complaints of discrimination.