ICCL calls on Government to invest 0.017% of projected 2024 budget spend on human rights
11 July 2023
ICCL’s pre-budget submission for 2024 contains 6 asks for the total of €10,340,000. If implemented, these items would represent a significant advancement in Ireland’s human rights infrastructure for a tiny investment (roughly 0.017% of the projected budget spend for 2024).
We have been closely following legislative developments relating to hate crime, extreme hate speech and policing over the past year and we will continue to lobby for changes to ensure all of this legislation is human rights compliant.
However as we know, legislation is only one part of the puzzle. We need investment in order to effectively realise our rights. The Government can and should commit to these investments for 2024 in order to ensure that yet to be established offices and yet to be enacted legislation can work effectively.
For these reasons, we are asking that the Government commit to investing 0.017% of the projected overall spend in 2024 on enhancing human rights infrastructure in the areas of policing oversight, security, access to justice, digital rights and protecting minoritised communities.
For a small outlay investment, these asks would go a long way towards ensuring that we not only more effectively meet our international obligations, but we also better reflect domestic recommendations, such as those from the Commission on the Future of Policing.
Our full set of asks for 2024 can be seen below.