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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Second Report by Ireland 1999.
Submission by the Irish Traveller Movement.

April 2002.

Introduction:

Since the first ICESCR report was published on Ireland a number of institutional and legislative changes have being implemented that have the capacity to improve the situation of Travellers in Ireland. However the reality on the ground for Travellers is that little has improved and in some areas the situation for Travellers has actually deteriorated.

This submission will try to capture that reality under the various headings such as accommodation, discrimination, health, education, economic activity and employment related to the relevant articles of the Covenant.

Discrimination

Article 2, paragraph 2:‘ The State Parties …… undertake that the rights enunciated in the present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status’.

The experience of discrimination is still a daily occurrence for many in the Traveller community. In a recent independent national survey conducted with over 500 Travellers, Travellers reported having experienced the following levels of discrimination:

Pub owners: 71%
Discos/clubs 40%
Gardai 38%
Shop Owners 37%
Local Authorities 33%
Dept. of Social Welfare 26%
Schools 25%
Employers 15%
Courts 13%
Hospitals 13%
Cinemas 12%
Settled work colleagues 11%
Banks and Financial inst. 7%
Tax authorities 5%
Church organisations 3%

The introduction of the Employment Equality Act and the Equal Status legislation aimed at tackling discrimination in the work place and in access to goods and services has been welcomed by Traveller organisations. Traveller organisations also welcomed the ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racism. 2001 saw Travellers exercising their right to challenge discrimination through the Equal Status Legislation. Travellers took 70% of the cases under the Goods and Services Measure. Also, the first Traveller case was taken and won under the Employment Legislation.

In terms of a change of behaviour from employers and those in charge of providing goods and services in light of the legislation, Travellers are reporting a mixed response. Some Travellers are experiencing easier access while some are reporting being taunted about the legislation while being refused permission.

Traveller organisations are working to build an understanding of the legislation and its procedures among Travellers. Travellers have brought a significant number of incidents to the attention of the Equality Authority and the Directorate of Equality Investigations for their deliberations.

Even at this early stage it is possible to identify improvements that are needed when the legislation comes up for revision this year. These include:

The amendment of the legislation to take account of the European Union Race Directive.
The abolition of the two month time limit for the bringing forward of complaints under the legislation to bring it into line with more common legal practice in relation to time limits.
Amendments that would take account of the literacy levels amongst the Traveller community.
The legislation should allow for people to go straight to the Directorate of Equality Investigations with their complaints rather than insisting that the first make a formal written complaint directly to the person against whom their complaining.
Section 15 which allows a landlord or service provider to discriminate in circumstances which would lead him or her – being a reasonable person – to believe that there was a substantial risk of criminal or disorderly behaviour or damage to property, could for example, result in a landlord refusing to rent a flat to a black person if they fear that the other tenants would assault the black person. It is the view of Traveller organisations that this is a form of institutional racism and this section should be amended at the first available opportunity.

Economic Activity and Employment

Article 6, paragraph 1:‘The States Parties to the Present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts’

Areas of economic activity and employment traditionally occupied by Travellers, particularly scrap metal recycling, horse-trading and market trading are dwindling. The primary reasons for this have been restrictive legislation, which was not adequately poverty proofed, (the Casual Trading Act, 1995 and the Control of Horse Act, 1996) restrictive accommodation provision (the local authorities refusal to provide work space beside accommodation space as is culturally appropriate) and economic growth (there is less of a market for recycled/second had goods due to increased spending power nationally). As a result, it is only a minority of Travellers who have remained economically active within the Traveller economy. The majority has had their ability to generate income impeded.

Outside of the Traveller economy, within the labour market, Travellers find it very difficult to access employment. Travellers are discriminated against both directly and indirectly. Direct discrimination, in the form of refusal to hire or provide services and indirectly because of the poor education, health and accommodation status of Travellers in general.

Consequently, Travellers access to income generating opportunities within their own communities has declined, while opportunities with the labour market have not replaced them, leaving many Travellers unemployed and living on social welfare. This has been the situation for a number of years, therefore the majority of Travellers who are unemployed are long term unemployed. The recent rapid growth in employment and economic development has barely altered this situation, Travellers are still excluded from the labour market. Innovative and supported strategies are required to develop Traveller access to training and labour market opportunities.

In order to promote Traveller inclusion into the labour market and develop income-generating opportunities, the recommendations in the Task Force report 1995, as well as positive action measures need immediate advancement, these include;

The immediate establishment of a Task Force committee within the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to advance the recommendation of the Task Force report, re employment and income generation.
Reform of the tax and benefit systems to reduce poverty traps, particular in relation to Travellers, changes in the criteria for the medical card.
The importance of the medical card cannot be overestimated for many Travellers, the poor health status, combined with larger families than the national average, result in a dependence on access to free health care. As a result, the potential loss of the medical card, which would result from employment, is a huge disincentive to many Travellers. The fear of losing the benefits provided by a medical card prevents Travellers from accessing employment and training opportunities, which results in the loss of access to a means of empowerment and access to progression out of a poverty trap.
In order to develop a full understanding and corresponding policies and strategies to tackle the problems faced by people having the greatest difficulties securing employment, full and accurate information is required. This information then needs to be collated, analysed and made available for interested parties to develop analysis and responses to the situation. As part of a full and comprehensive understanding, information regarding the ethnic background of the clients needs to be collected. This information also needs to be obtained in sensitive manner within an equality framework.

Traveller Accommodation

Article 11, paragraph 1, ‘right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including…… housing’

The Report of the Task Force on the Travelling Community published by the Government in 1995 promised to provide 2,200 Traveller specific accommodation units. Since the publication of this report the government implemented a National Traveller Accommodation Strategy, which involved putting in place the following:

The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998 which requires all the necessary accommodation to be implemented by 2,004
The National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee to advise the Minister on all aspects of Traveller Accommodation
Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committees to advise the local authorities on the drawing up and implementation of the Traveller Accommodation Programmes

Traveller organisations are represented on these committees.

Despite these legislative and institutional changes the reality is that the situation for Travellers with regards to accommodation has disimproved. To date very little accommodation has been delivered. The government is nowhere near meeting its commitments as only 111 of the needed 2,200 Traveller specific units have been provided. Coinciding with this harsh reality there has been an increased use of section 32 of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998. This provision gives the local authorities increased powers to move Travellers, and in certain circumstances they are not required to offer any alternative accommodation. The Irish Traveller Movement conducted a telephone survey from the period August 2001 to August 2002 and found that 471 families had been served with notices to move on without been offered any alternative accommodation. The reality of this situation is that there are 1,200 Traveller families living in camps without access to basic facilities such as water, toilets and refuse collection who face the fear of been evicted by local authorities.

Traveller organisations have asked the Minister to intervene and introduce measures to speed up the delivery of accommodation to Travellers but no action has been taken. Recently, the Government introduced the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 2002 to ‘deal with large encampments of Travellers’ which has been passed by the Dàil and the Seanàd and signed in to law by the President. This legislation if enacted will criminalize trespass on public and private land. Section 24 which amends the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994 provides:

‘a person without the consent of the owner, shall not enter or occupy any land or bring on to that land any object which might either damage the land or effect any amenity attaching to the land or prevent other people using the land’.

The 1,200 families are trespassing on public land due to the failure of the state to meet its commitments and will be the families who will suffer as a result of the introduction of this draconian legislation. This legislation also discriminates against Travellers’ nomadic way of life, as Travellers will not be able to move due to fear of committing a criminal offence, which will mean a fine and three months imprisonment. Again it must be pointed out that the Government has a duty by law to provide for the ‘annual patterns of movement of Travellers’ (Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998), which too they have failed to do.

The fact that the government failed to consult the National Traveller organisations or the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee regarding the introduction of the law to criminalize trespass calls in to question their commitment to the social partnership model. This legislation has caused a serious break down in relationships between Traveller organisations and the Government.

Likewise the publication of the Review of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy further highlights the government inaction on the matter. The target for Traveller Accommodation in this document states ‘all Travellers’ families identified in the local authority five-year Traveller accommodation programme process as being in need of accommodation will be appropriately accommodation by the end of 2004’. This merely re-states Government policy, and has been legislation since 1998.

All aspects of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998 is due to be reviewed this year including progress on implementation. We strongly recommend that a substantial review takes place, which will contain an examination of alternative delivery mechanisms for Traveller accommodation

Evictions

No discussion of Traveller Accommodation would be complete without giving consideration to the issue of evictions.

‘The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights definition of forced evictions as “the permanent or temporary removal against their will of individuals, families and/or communities from their homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to appropriate forms of legal or other protection’.

Section 32 of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998 amended section 10 of the 1992 Housing Act and gave increased powers to local authorities to control unauthorized encampments. It was envisaged that these powers would enable the local authority to manage its accommodation stock more effectively when all the necessary accommodation had been built. In many cases these increased powers are being used to move Travellers out of areas rather than provide the necessary accommodation. Rather than pressing ahead on providing accommodation Travellers are being moved on against their will. There has been no recognition that this movement of Travellers constitutes an eviction. This needs to be addressed at Government level.

We have informed the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee of our findings resulting from the telephone survey regarding the forced movement of Traveller families. The enactment of the law that criminalizes trespass will undoubtedly lead to increased forced movement of Travellers. We are calling on the government not to enact this legislation, as it would be a major retrogressive step.

Health

Article 12, paragraph 1: ‘The State Parties….. recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health’

The absence of current dis-aggregated data on Traveller health status is an issue that Traveller organisations have been raising at local and national level for a number of years. The Irish Government has made a commitment to the collection of dis-aggregated data in the current national programme, the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness.

The most recently available statistics on Traveller health (1986) show that Travellers are expected to die 12 years younger than settled people and infant mortality rates are 3 times that of the settled community. The appalling conditions in which so many Travellers are forced to live, as well as an on-going lack of culturally appropriate provision are the major contributing factors to these health statistics. In line with these health statistics the threat of loss of the ‘medical card’ presents a real barrier to Travellers accessing, training, educational and employment opportunities. Therefore it should be recommended as a positive action measure that Travellers retain automatic access to the ‘medical card’ until their health statistics come in line with the general population.

Strides have been made in relation to the development of Primary Health Care Courses, the establishment of a National Traveller Health Advisory Committee, the publication of the National Traveller Health Strategy and the establishment of Traveller Health Units in each Health Board. The National Traveller Health Strategy took five years to publish now we need to see it implemented as a matter of urgency.

Education

Article 13, paragraph 1: ‘The State Parties…….recognise the right of everyone to education’.

To date the debate and actions in relation to Travellers and education has been centred on the numbers of Travellers participating in school. This has resulted in almost 6000 Travellers in primary school. This represents most but not all Travellers of this school going age. In recent years there has being an increase in the numbers of Travellers transferring to post primary school and at present about 1000 Travellers are registered, however very few Travellers remain until the final year of the school system. Approximately 20 Travellers are in the third level educational system. The establishment and expansion to a national level of a Visiting Teacher Service to Travellers has contributed to this development. The attention given to this issue by Traveller organisations has also being an important factor. However this part of the activity of Traveller organisations is not funded in most instances.

The question of a systematic teaching of human rights and anti-racist education are still valid. The provision of a special training for teachers in this regard is still only provided on a voluntary and limited basis. The question of early years education is presently receiving much attention in Ireland and anti-racist and intercultural education should be central to this development.

Key areas that remain to be addressed are as follows:

The production of a Traveller Education Strategy by the Department of Education and Science.
The carrying out of a review with recommendations on the present use of additional resources for Traveller education.

Conclusion

While there have been many developments in the fight against racism and intolerance, directed at Travellers and other ethnic minorities in Ireland in recent years, as of yet little of these developments have impacted on the daily experience of Travellers. There is a danger that the advent of these institutions and legal changes will create complacency in official circles, believing that the work is now done and therefore not applying the necessary energy to ensure that these changes are implemented and real progress is made. In this context, examinations of the Irish situation such as the ICESCR one play a vital role in ensuring that the reality is rightly understood and that the challenges still to be met are clearly identified.

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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights