Mr. Stephen O'Hare:

Yes. I would like to express my gratitude to the committee for inviting myself and my colleague, Ms Deirdre Duffy, today. I echo the remarks made by others in congratulating the committee on taking this bold initiative to hold these hearings. We express sincere thanks.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties is Ireland's independent human rights watchdog with a consistent track record as a leader in international human rights reporting, including under the ICCPR, other UN treaties and the universal periodic review. As the committee already heard, the ICCL co-ordinates a civil society coalition on the ICCPR comprising 11 organisations, some of which have appeared before the committee today. I also refer the committee to two publications we have produced on treaty reporting. One is our shadow reporting toolkit, giving organisations information for reporting on international treaties, and the other is our plain English guide to UPR, both of which are available to download from our website rightsnow.ie.
I will lead off on the first matter we have been asked to addressed today, which is the Article 26 implications for migrant victims of domestic violence. My colleague, Ms Deirdre Duffy, will cover the second point regarding the role of national implementation mechanisms, which could support the treaty body system. The response of Ireland to the list of issues refers to the immigration guidelines for victims of domestic violence produced by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, INMS. An initial difficulty presented in these guidelines, in particular for victims of domestic violence, is that they are not widely available and are only published in the news and events section of the INMS website and on the Cosc, the National Office for Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence website. However, on a broader scale, migrants who are victims of domestic violence do not receive the same protections under Irish law as an Irish victim of similar violence. For a start, the guidelines produced by INMS are just that - guidelines - whereas, as I set out in response to the list of issues, people in Ireland who experience violence have legal recourse and protections available under the 1996 and 2011 domestic violence legislation.
The reality for migrant people who are present in Ireland on the basis of a residency permit, which makes their legal residency conditional on being a family member, is that if they suffer violence at the hands of their partner, the current system provides an additional barrier to their seeking protection. Let us take the example of a woman in a violent relationship who has come to Ireland on a family visa and whose partner is abusive. If she and most likely her children leave the abusive situation, she is no longer complying with the terms of her residency permit. She must inform the Minister of her difficult circumstances and can apply for a change in status under the guidelines but there is no guarantee that her status will be changed, how long she will have to wait for a decision or what, if any, status might be afforded to her. The guidelines are a discretionary mechanism. For example, if she is given a stamp 3 status, she has no access to social welfare or many shelters assisting victims of domestic violence. Indeed, groups working on this issue report that migrant victims of domestic violence are turned away from these supports. In most cases, in order re-register, she will have to pay the €300 Garda Immigration Bureau registration fee even where she is left penniless as a result of her separation.
As the committee may know, victims of domestic violence and abusive family situations often find it difficult to extricate themselves from the grip of the abuser. For migrant victims this is compounded by a system which seeks to provide protection under the guidelines if they can be found rather than under legislation. A victim faces an additional fear of deportation should she attempt to leave. In our opinion this does not amount to equality before the law under article 26.
I will now hand over to my colleague, Ms Deirdre Duffy, to address the second issue raised by the committee.