Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

We have tabled a counter-motion which sets out the Government's approach to the issues raised.

I propose to address the various points which are the subject of today's counter-motion, moved by Senator Ann Ormonde, in the order in which they appear in the motion.

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs said that the Government's decision to integrate the Combat Poverty Agency and the office for social inclusion within the Department of Social and Family Affairs was informed by a review of the Combat Poverty Agency, undertaken on foot of a Government decision on 6 June 2007.

The review noted that the office for social inclusion and the Combat Poverty Agency had similar agendas and functions and highlighted the advantages of bringing them together. The legislative provision to give effect to this change is contained in the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008. It is not the intention of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs that the Combat Poverty Agency will simply be absorbed into the office for social inclusion in its existing form. A new, strengthened division will be created that will make the best use of the considerable experience and expertise of the staff of both existing bodies and will seek to provide a stronger voice for those affected by poverty and social inclusion issues.

The Minister advises that the new division will provide a unified institutional structure to support Government, officials and the wider community in addressing issues of poverty and social exclusion. It will play a central role in co-ordinating the ongoing development and implementation of the national action plan for social inclusion in collaboration with the senior officials group on social inclusion, Departments, local authorities and agencies. Key functions will include policy advice, research, data availability, communications, poverty impact assessment and the strengthening of social inclusion strategies.

Consultation and collaboration with the social partners, including the community and voluntary pillar, will be a major part of the process. The Minister has asked the new division to prioritise the development of procedures to ensure that the views of these and other stakeholders, including people experiencing poverty, continue to be available to Government in developing and monitoring social inclusion strategies.

The Minister asked that I emphasise that the Department of Social and Family Affairs is working closely with the board and staff of the Combat Poverty Agency in completing the necessary arrangements for the smooth integration of the Combat Poverty Agency and the office for social inclusion. A detailed implementation plan, which has been developed with the expert input of the staff of both bodies, is in place. It is envisaged that the key strands of the integration process will be substantially finalised by the beginning of July.

Senators Bacik, Norris and O'Toole have raised several domestic human rights and equality issues today and in the past on several motions which have come before this House. My colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, asked me to say that the context in which financial provisions have been made by the Government for the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, NCCRI, the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority were outlined in the budget statement on 14 October last. That context is the wholly exceptional circumstances in which decisions on spending for 2009 have been made, having regard to the need for substantial savings. Not alone were decisions made following the budget which was announced before Christmas, but also following the further deterioration of the public finances and the further Government decision in the past 24 hours.

The Government announced, as part of the budget measures, that funding to the NCCRI would cease and its functions would be absorbed into the office of the Minister of State responsible for integration, and be administered directly that office. The NCCRI has received funding from the justice Vote over the past decade and has done valuable work in combating racism and promoting diversity. However, in light of the great increase in immigration to Ireland, the Government decided to appoint a Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform with special responsibility for integration policy. The Minister informs me that the establishment of the office of the Minister of State responsible for integration and the new arrangements outlined in the policy statement, Migration Nation, mean that he must review the purpose of existing expenditure, and he believes it was appropriate to cease this funding and absorb the functions of NCCRI into the office of the Minister of State responsible for integration.

The Government recognises that the reduced budgets will cause some difficulties for the Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority. However, it is satisfied that sufficient funding has been provided to the bodies to enable them to discharge their core activities in 2009. The Minister rejects as completely false and misleading suggestions that the Equality Authority has been rendered unworkable, or destroyed, as has been stated. He has said that these are suggestions with which the majority of the board of the authority do not agree. The authority has stated that it can work within its budget for 2009, primarily by reducing overheads, and that it can maintain programme expenditure at the level it originally proposed in December 2008. In particular, the provision for non-pay expenditure on legal advice and representation shows no change. The provision for research shows a slight increase. There is no change in the original plan for equality mainstreaming.

Contrary to what is being alleged, the Minister contends that the authority is maintaining its core activities and this will be achieved by a dedicated use of the skills and talents of the staff of the authority, combined with a significant reduction in the extraordinary reliance heretofore on external consultants to carry out authority functions. The Government believes that significant efficiencies and savings can be realised by both bodies sharing office facilities. Other areas where savings can be made are likely to include shared information technology and telecommunications facilities.

The 2009 provision for the Equality Tribunal, which adjudicates on individual claims of inequality, has been increased by 15% to reflect the priority that should be given to people who have a grievance in this respect. The social partnership agreement, Towards 2016, set as a priority in the equality sphere the elimination of the backlog of cases at the tribunal. The allocation of resources in the 2009 Estimates reflects that priority. The Government is keenly aware of the difficulties facing the marginalised and vulnerable in society. For this reason, the 2009 Estimates for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform maintain funding for disability and civil legal aid close to what it was in 2008.

The Government is committed to the principles of equality and the elimination of discrimination, as enunciated in the equality legislation passed by the Oireachtas. The Minister commends the work of the Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission and states his commitment to seeing a secure and viable future for that agency. This Government and its immediate predecessors promoted the principal Equality Acts and Human Rights Acts and established the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission. The Government will continue to earmark substantial taxpayer resources to the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission to allow them to carry out their core functions as per the legislation. When national finances permit, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will also ensure the budgets of the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission are appropriately increased.

The Government is committed to helping all our citizens in these difficult times. The Minister has informed me that departmental officials are having ongoing meetings with both the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission to ensure they can effectively manage their 2009 budgets.

I emphasise our strong commitment to the full range of international human rights issues. Ireland has a very strong record on pursuing human rights concerns at an international level. With regard to the issues specifically raised in the motion, respect for human rights lies at the very heart of the Government's policy on the occupied Palestinian territories. We have based our responses firmly on the principle that both Israelis and Palestinians have the same rights to peace, security, freedom and development, and that the rights of one side do not negate those of the other.

The human rights provisions of the EU's association agreement with Israel have provided a mechanism — as they do with other countries — for us to raise human rights cases directly with the Israeli Government. Ireland has consistently worked at EU level for robust engagement on these issues. Ireland took a leading role on this issue, especially since 28 December. The Minister for Foreign Affairs took a leading role in Council meetings to highlight the plight of those who are disadvantaged in Gaza and in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Minister and I collaborated in providing an additional €500,000 to UNRWA, which is the primary delivery body in that area and is at the forefront of the humanitarian response there. We are one of the biggest donors to that body and we will not be found wanting once the needs assessment on reconstruction is completed in the coming weeks and months. In response to the concerns of human rights groups, we have successfully argued for the establishment of a full human rights sub-committee under the agreement.

The Government has also acted in support of human rights on the ground. Through the human rights and democratisation programme of Irish Aid, the Government funds a number of human rights non-governmental organisations in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Our embassy in Tel Aviv and the representative office in Ramallah have been very active in working with NGOs, assisting individuals, making representations to Israeli and Palestinian authorities, reporting on human rights issues, and helping human rights defenders move in and out of Gaza and the West Bank.

The Government remains committed to helping the Burmese people in their struggle for justice, democracy and development. In pursuit of this goal, the Government has engaged in diplomatic activity with Burma's neighbours and in international fora, and it has provided support to groups working to promote democracy, human rights and development for the people of Burma. This House has been very active in supporting the humanitarian relief in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the Irrawaddy Delta in the south of the country and which left up to 140,000 people dead within weeks of the disaster. The figures put into context some of the other international disasters, be they man-made or natural.

At the end of January, the Department of Foreign Affairs funded a visit to Ireland by the democratically elected members of the Burmese Parliamentary Union and the members of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma to enable them to hold their fourth congress and consultation meeting here. The purpose of the meeting was to plan future strategy, to seek to advance national reconciliation and union within Burma and to garner the support of the international community so the process of democratisation in Burma can be furthered. I am delighted we have been able to support their work in this way.

Having listened carefully to Senator Norris's comments on Tibet, I recognise his ongoing commitment to the area. The Government shares that commitment and remains deeply concerned about the situation in Tibet, which remains extremely tense following the disturbing events there in March of last year and in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing. The Chinese authorities have been engaging in a security operation in the Tibetan capital over recent weeks. They have run checks on almost 6,000 people and detained 81 of them. The Department of Foreign Affairs, at ministerial and official level, maintains close contact with the Chinese authorities regarding Tibet. It also supports efforts at EU level. I can respond to Senator O'Toole's constructive contribution by assuring him that Ireland is using its contacts to underline the importance it attaches to human rights and emphasise the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest. Dialogue between the Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama, or his representatives, remains the most effective way of protecting Tibetan culture, identity, religion and human rights, and securing some measure of autonomy for Tibet within China. The unsatisfactory pace and substance of the dialogue process needs to be accelerated and upgraded, however. Ireland has consistently outlined its strong concerns about human rights issues in number of countries, including Zimbabwe and the Darfur region of Sudan.

I confirm the Government's total opposition to the practice of extraordinary rendition, which all Members of the House have raised during this debate. Not only is it illegal in this country, it is also contrary to our constitutional provisions on personal freedom and our international human rights commitments. The US authorities were made aware of the Government's position as soon as the first allegations regarding this practice emerged. It is crucial to reiterate that none of the various investigations into allegations of extraordinary rendition has revealed any evidence, or even a specific allegation, that any person has on any occasion been subject to extraordinary rendition through Ireland. The Government has received uniquely clear and categorical assurances from the US that no extraordinary rendition has taken place through Ireland. Those assurances have been confirmed repeatedly on the US side.

The programme for Government contains a number of commitments on which action is already being taken by the responsible Departments. The programme states that the Government will "ensure that all relevant legal instruments are used so that the practice of extraordinary rendition does not occur in this State in any form". The House will be aware that a Cabinet sub-committee on aspects of international human rights was established last autumn. As part of its remit, the sub-committee has reviewed the programme for Government commitment in which this country's total opposition to extraordinary rendition is outlined. Following a decision that was made by the Cabinet sub-committee, the Irish embassy in Washington made early contact with the transition team of the new Obama Administration to seek a clear statement of intent that extraordinary rendition will cease and not resume during the new President's term of office, that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay will be closed at the earliest opportunity and that intensive interrogation techniques such as water boarding, which are internationally considered to constitute torture, will be clearly prohibited.

On 22 January last, the new US President, Mr. Obama, signed three executive orders which address these issues. The first order requires the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility as soon as practicable and within a year at the latest. I warmly welcome this move for which Ireland has been calling for several years. A second presidential executive order, which will ensure all interrogations are lawful, provides that all people detained following armed conflicts will be treated humanely in all circumstances and will not be subjected to violence or outrages to personal dignity. The US President, Mr. Obama, has established a task force, one of the functions of which will be to evaluate the policy of transferring individuals to third countries to ensure it complies with all obligations and is sufficient to ensure all individuals will not face torture and cruel treatment if transferred. I assure Senator Norris that the Government will convey its strong support for the steps taken to date by the Obama Administration in its future contacts with that Administration at political and official level. We will continue to follow developments in this area carefully.

I assure all Senators that the Government will maintain its strong commitment to the protection and enforcement of human rights, domestically and internationally. It will continue to meet its national and international obligations in this regard. I commend the motion, as amended, to the House.