Human Rights body abandoned by a year of inaction

The Human Rights and Equality Commission must have a robust independence, writes Katherine Zappone

THE establishment of the new Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has taken too long. It has been the best part of two years since a merger between the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority was announced — an entire year since the draft legislation for this body was published — yet a functional organisation has still not been formed.

In that time, various people in Ireland have essentially been abandoned — they should have had a potentially powerful body like the IHREC able to take on their concerns, and in so doing maintaining and setting standards. They haven’t.