April 2023
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has written to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in response to media reports that the Government is considering a review of its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A review is essential if we are to reflect on lessons learned from the pandemic, and would ensure deeper consideration of the impact of restrictions on civil liberties in future emergency planning and responses.
ICCL hopes that any review will include a human rights impact assessment on the use of emergency powers and an assessment of the extent to which the response complied with Ireland’s national, regional and international human rights obligations.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD
Department of the Taoiseach
Merrion Street
Dublin 2
20 March 2023
Dear Taoiseach,
- We note reports in the media that the Government is considering an official review of its response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) considers that such a review is vital to ensure any future emergency response is informed by lessons learned. We have long called for such a review to include a human rights impact assessment. Media reports have indicated that the proposed review will include consideration of the use of emergency powers and the impact of restrictions on liberty [1]. ICCL warmly welcomes this development.
- ICCL monitored and analysed the making of emergency laws and regulations and their implementation from a rule of law and human rights perspective from the very beginning of the government’s response to the pandemic in Ireland. We made many submissions to government across a wide range of policy areas and produced a wide-ranging report on human rights and the pandemic, which we published in May 2021. We enclose our submission on the Health (Preservation and Protection and Other Emergency Measures) Act 2020 and our report entitled ‘Human Rights in a Pandemic’.
- Given the substantial impact on a range of rights during the pandemic response, we encourage government to include both an assessment of this impact and an assessment of the extent to which the response complied with Ireland’s national, regional and international human rights obligations.
- We stand ready to assist with this review in any way that may be helpful and hope that our existing work on this topic will be useful. We would be grateful to hear more detail regarding your intentions for the scope and timing of this review.
Yours sincerely,
Liam Herrick
Executive Director
Enc.
- ICCL Submission to Government on the Health (Preservation and Protection and Other Emergency Measures) Act 2020
- Ansbro, Carthy, Cronin, McLoughlin-Buke, Human Rights in a Pandemic, ICCL, May 2021
Notes
[1] See for example, Harry McGee’s article in The Irish Times, January 2 2023, https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/01/02/taoiseach-leo-varadkar-commits-to-a-full-covid-inquiry-in-2023/