Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 108:

In page 34, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: “(2) Should any opinion, decision or recommendation be made by either a domestic Judicial Review or international human rights treaty body, concerning the Act, the Minister shall cause a review of the operation of the Scheme to be commenced as soon as possible after this determination but not later than 6 months after the date of the determination.”.

Amendments Nos. 108 and 113 relate to justice for mixed-race survivors. As I highlighted earlier, there is currently no way for survivors to get justice in Ireland for historical racial discrimination in institutions given the Statute of Limitations and other issues. This redress scheme should have an avenue for justice for those survivors but it offers nothing in the way of specific redress for racial discrimination.

In September 2022, UN experts called for adequate redress for systemic racism and racial discrimination in Irish childcare institutions between the 1940s and the 1990s. The Irish Racial Justice Forum has now made a complaint against Ireland to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, CERD, and I specifically thank Conrad Bryan for all his work on this issue. Ireland will have the power to contest the admissibility of this case. I urge the Government not to contest the admissibility of the case and to allow it to be heard by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on its merits, and this is the approach the Irish Racial Justice Forum wants the Government to take.

As I have already outlined, mixed-race survivors of the institutions have exhausted all possible domestic avenues of redress. They engaged with the commission of investigation and the commission report was deeply disappointing for them. The commission of investigation concluded there was no direct evidence of different treatment or institutionalised racism in the records and that there does not appear to have been systemic discrimination. This directly contradicts the survivors' testimonies but the Statute of Limitations and the absence of historic laws against racial discrimination mean they cannot pursue justice in the domestic courts. They engaged in good faith with this scheme and are once again going to be disappointed with its current form.

In this context, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is the last forum for them to have their rights vindicated. Ireland signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racism and Racial Discrimination, ICERD, in 1968 and it was ratified in 2000.Upon ratification, Ireland made the declaration under Article 14 of the ICERD, recognising the competence of CERD to consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals within Ireland claiming to be victims of a violation by Ireland of any of the rights set forth in the convention. We as a nation have ratified this convention and given CERD the right to adjudicate on these matters. It is now imperative the State does not block that process by contesting the admissibility of IRJF’s complaint. Amendment 108 would require the Government to have regard to any opinion, decision or recommendation being made by either a domestic judicial review or an international human rights treaty body and to review the scheme in light of that recommendation. This could include a ruling or opinion from CERD.

Similarly, amendment No. 113 specifies that the review of the scheme undertaken would have to examine the extent to which the scheme is in compliance with any determination by a judicial review or an international human rights treaty body relating to remedies for any mixed-race survivors. This could include a determination by CERD. Amendments Nos. 108 and 113 both attempt to insert obligations in the Bill to acknowledge and respond to rulings or decisions by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The amendments would ensure that the scheme must be reviewed in light of any such rulings or decisions.