Seanad debates
Wednesday, 18 June 2003
European Convention on Human Rights Bill 2001: Second Stage.
The interim human rights commission, when it was chaired by Judge Donal Barrington, in a submission to the joint Oireachtas committee in June 2002 stated: "We would have preferred a more robust and effective form of incorporation; indeed, strictly speaking the Bill does not propose actually to incorporate the convention into Irish law, only to give it more effect here". How useful will that be for Irish children? If an organ of the State injures children, how will the Bill help them when the only remedy is money? How will the legislation help the children Judge Peter Kelly constantly talks about in his court? It was interesting that the Minister mentioned the last case found against Ireland, which involved a disturbed adolescent and the inadequacy of the remedies for that child. Ireland was pretty badly judged in that case and I see nothing in this legislation to help in that regard.
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