9 July 2021
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is strongly opposed to the Government proposal to rush through emergency legislation – which would run roughshod over equality, data protection and privacy law – to reconcile its previous timetable for indoor dining and the Dáil Recess. We are extremely concerned at the precedent that would be set if government goes ahead with this plan.
ICCL’s Executive Director Liam Herrick said:
“We cannot set a precedent whereby government can declare that problems with its own re-opening timetable constitute some sort of parliamentary emergency, which would justify ignoring serious and complex issues of workers’ rights, equality law, privacy, and data protection. Human rights law is there to protect us all. We cannot dispense with it when faced with political dilemmas.”
ICCL has opposed the idea of vaccine passports since they were first mooted in early 2021. A system of vaccine passports for access to goods and services will discriminate against people on the grounds of health status. Such a system would also set a precedent of requiring people to share private medical data to gain access to services. The Data Protection Commissioner has also raised concerns about the implications for employee rights, and there are ongoing questions over the integrity and security of any such verification systems.
Up until less than two weeks ago, the Government also agreed that these human rights and civil liberties concerns were too serious to consider introducing vaccine passes. The idea that allowing indoor dining and drinking this month is so urgent that these concerns should now be dispensed with – via emergency legislation and without meaningful debate – is frankly incredible.
The economic needs of the hospitality sector are significant and need to be considered carefully but putting in place a system of health surveillance at the doors of pubs and restaurants is more complex than a negotiation with industry bodies. Perceived political expediency will not make these complex issues, which Government was not even considering up to last week, go away in a matter of days.
ENDS/
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is Ireland’s oldest independent human rights campaigning organisation. We monitor, educate and campaign to secure human rights for everyone in Ireland.
For comment: Liam Herrick
For media queries: sinead.nolan@iccl.ie