Ms Yvonne O'Sullivan:

I will comment on the first comments Senator Hayden made before referring to my colleague, Ms Yvonne Woods. The Senator referred to the conflicting issues the Government must deal with.

Austerity is not necessarily the answer, particularly regarding the Department of Social Protection's budget. Austerity is viewed as counterproductive by lots of individuals. Even the former IMF official, Mr Ashoka Mody, said austerity was counterproductive. The Department of Social Protection's budget is coming more into play because the higher unemployment is, the more people must rely upon on that budget. A disproportionate cut in its budget would have a detrimental impact on many individuals who survive on basic payments.

With regard to the question of rights for the individual attending, for example, at a social welfare office, and whether one should be informed of certain rights, there are numerous human rights involved. Individuals should be informed, and that view was expressed in the report that we published last year. We made similar recommendations for local social welfare offices. For example, persons should be informed of their right to an effective remedy, to information, to lodge a freedom of information request and to legal representation and legal advice, especially at the appeals stage when people are in difficult financial situations. All of these rights should be clearly explained. It should be the responsibility of the officer concerned to let people know their exact human rights and thus ensure that we live up to our legal obligations as a State.

There was a question on economic, social and cultural rights. We believe they should be included in the Constitution but progressively realised, as opposed to an immediate transposition into legislation. At the moment, FLAC is part of a larger group of NGOs, along with Amnesty International, the INOU and numerous other organisations, that are getting economic, social and cultural rights on the agenda for the Constitutional Convention. The initiative is part of FLAC's agenda and we hope it will be included in the future.