Shatter: Delay in human rights body disappointing

Justice Minister Alan Shatter expressed his frustration yesterday at the failure of Cabinet colleague Brendan Howlin to agree to the staffing and budget details for the State’s new human rights and equality body.

Speaking at the joint launch of the 2012 annual reports of the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority, Mr Shatter said he was “personally disappointed” at the impasse.

He said progress in establishing a new agency, merging the two bodies, which he announced back in 2011, had been “slower” than he wished.