Blocking treaty would be a disgrace

It would be shameful if this country was responsible for blocking the UN Treaty on the Rights of the Disabled, which already has the support of the other 14 member states of the EU.

At a meeting of the Dáil Foreign Affairs Sub-committee on Human Rights yesterday, it was charged that the Departments of Justice and Finance were colluding to oppose the treaty purely on the grounds of the financial implications for the country.

Ireland was originally in favour of the treaty but there now appears to be a major U-turn executed by the Government to prevent the treaty being adopted.

According to Professor Gerard Quinn of NUI Galway, who addressed the sub-committee, failure on Ireland’s part to bring itself in line with the rest of the EU by coming out strongly in favour of the UN treaty, would put the entire process in jeopardy, and it was possible it would collapse this summer.

Currently at draft stage, the treaty is aimed at the estimated 600 million people with disabilities in the world, most of whom live in developing countries.

Its objective is to set out more clearly the obligations of States with respect to the human rights of disabled people. Campaigners envisage a strong enforcement element to the treaty which would force countries to clarify their obligations to people with disabilities.

The problem in this country is that the Government is only too well aware of its responsibilities, but very reluctant to meet them. That awareness is largely due to the numerous groups who represent disabled people and who have lobbied and protested to try to achieve what their legitimate entitlements.

But if Ireland fails in its duty to endorse this treaty, the repercussions could be felt in some of the most needy countries in the world, not just at home.

It would be unconscionable if this country were to prove to be the obstacle on which the treaty foundered, and such a action would rightly cause Ireland’s reputation on human rights to be held in odium.

Yet the Government has still to announce its position on the treaty and its tardiness could put it in jeopardy.

At the moment, it is sitting on the fence. Earlier this month the Department of Justice expressed opposition to the treaty, yet more recently Junior Justice Minister Willie O’Dea indicated a possible change of position and suggested the Government would approve the treaty.

Time is running out, as the next UN treaty meeting is in June. It is imperative that the Government give its unequivocal support to an international instrument which seeks to improve the lives of those who desperately need as good a quality of life as can be provided.

Both the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, and the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, have been invited to the meeting next month of the Dáil sub-committee to clarify the Government’s position.

The Government has a moral obligation to give its unstinting, unambiguous support to this treaty without any further equivocation.