19 March 2025 — A new European report has found that Ireland's progress on a number of rule of law issues has "exhibited stagnation or only minimal progress".
The annual "Liberties Rule Of Law Report 2025" assesses the state of justice, corruption, media freedom, checks and balances, civic space and systemic human rights issues in 2024, as compiled by 45 human rights organisations in 21 countries across the EU.
The report cites a number of key concerns:
The report notes that Ireland has made no progress on long-promised reforms to the civil legal aid scheme, while disabled individuals, migrants, Travellers and other marginalised groups still face barriers to justice.
The report adds that Ireland continues to face challenges relating to access to legal aid, including "high costs of legal defence, low eligibility thresholds for legal aid, language barriers, and insufficient interpretation services".
In the area of public ethics, Ireland is named as one of several countries where "investigation and enforcement of sanctions for corruption offences face significant challenges".
While draft legislation on public ethics has yet to be published, the responsibility for the detection and prevention of corruption is currently fragmented and spread across several bodies — including the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo), the Corporate Enforcement Authority and An Garda Síochána — leading to criticisms of inefficiency and a lack of coordination.
The report calls on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to "publish and swifty enact legis-
lation to reform and consolidate the statutory framework for public ethics which has been
outstanding now for four years".
In regards to media freedom, the report highlights concerns regarding the Defamation (Amendment) Bill's proposal to remove juries from High Court defamation procedures.
In the area of checks and balances, the report highlights that the proposed governance and structure of the Independent Examiner of Security Legislation, Office of the Police Ombudsman and the Policing and Community Safety Authority may limit their independence and impede their ability to operate effectively.
In civic space, the report cites the lack of progress on addressing funding restrictions on civil society as imposed by the Electoral Act (1997).
The report also found that no progress has been made in addressing systemic human rights abuses. The Sallins Men, the family of Shane O'Farrell and the victims of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings have yet to receive any truth, justice or accountability from the State.
Overall, the report finds that the Irish Government has made progress on two rule of law issues in 2024 (justice system; media environment and media freedom), and no progress on four (anti-corruption framework, checks and balances, civic space and human rights).