Having achieved its main goal of a government commitment to Equality Budgeting, the campaign is happy to hand over the reins of Equality Budgeting to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, which is tasked, in the current Programme for Government, with implementing Equality Budgeting. We are proud of the achievements of the campaign, which introduced the concept of Equality Budgeting to the Irish political landscape, and highlighted the closed nature of Irish budgets and the inequitable impact this was having on specific sections of Irish society. The campaign engaged in several, high-impact activities:

• Private Members Bill to give effect to Equality Budgeting in the Dail in June 2013. The Equal Status (Amendment) Bill 2013 was introduced by Sinn Fein and supported by all members of the opposition, although not by the government parties.

• Organising a seminar on equality budgeting in the NWCI on 20th April 2013 (which included participation of the Scottish Women’s Budget Group and the Equality Coalition of Northern Ireland to learn from the Northern Irish and Scottish models of embedding equality in budgetary processes there.

• Collation of an Information Booklet on Equality Budgeting, supported by funding from the Equality Commission, as well as submissions to government ministers and public consultations.

• The campaign built considerable support from elected representatives, who signed a pledge for a “fair slice” through equality budgeting in September 2013 (supporters included Labour backbenchers, and members from the opposition parties.

• In October 2013 and 2014, we held a post-budget event with over 50 civil society organisations in the Mansion House, undertook a survey, and collated the resultant research.

• Invited presentations to two Dail committees (on petitions, and on social protection), with the latter resulting in a study visit by the committee to Scotland to learn more about Equality Budgeting there

• Numerous media engagement activities, including articles in The Irish Times, the Journal.ie and similar outlets

• Submission and representation of the campaign at a hearing on women’s human rights by the UN CEDAW committee in 2017, the first such examination of Ireland to take place in over a decade. Read the CEDAW submission.

We are delighted that the Equality Budgeting Campaign has been instrumental in prompting a serious overhaul of the Irish budgeting system, which includes the setting up of a Budget Office and an Oireachtas committee on budgetary scrutiny. We hope that this work will now be continued by IHREC to ensure equality-focused budgeting, including impact assessments and evidence-based policy-making that will ensure a more equitable Ireland.

We thank all of the organisations and individuals who have made the work of the campaign possible over the last number of years.

Ireland’s human rights record under CEDAW will be examined in February, so now is an important time to highlight the significance of budget equality for women in Ireland.

Equality Budgeting Submission to CEDAW

Our campaign founder, Clara Fischer, writes in the Irish Times 10/10/16;

Read the full article here: Irish Times Article on Noonan and Equality Budgeting

You can listen to the discussion at around 25 minutes into the recording below.

Irish Times Women’s Podcast 14th October

The Irish Times recently published an article by one of our campaign co-ordinators, Dr. Clara Fischer. Fischer highlights equality budgeting as a solution to the increasing pressures and inequality faced by lone parents in Ireland:

“While other countries routinely use impact assessments and equality-proofing as part of the policy process and, importantly, before decisions are made, Ireland lags behind by refusing to introduce such measures – measures that would give teeth to empty promises of protecting “the vulnerable”.

The most recent cuts to lone parents highlight the fact it is now time for the introduction of equality-proofing and impact assessments, as the Government’s current approach does not work. Not only is the present stance on lone parents morally problematic, but it is having the opposite effect to that intended.

Although the cuts were ostensibly introduced to increase lone parents’ participation in the labour market, there are now fewer lone parents working than in 2012. This clearly is a policy failure, which can be traced directly to structural problems with the way in which policy is made in Ireland. With that said, it is still not too late for Government to reconsider, to undertake a review and to amend its stance accordingly.”

Read the full article on the Irish Times website here.

The Equality Budgeting Campaign today responded to Budget 2014, highlighting the lack of equality analysis accompanying the budget. Dr Clara Fischer, spokesperson for the campaign, said that “we are disappointed that the government has again not included a detailed equality analysis of the budget. Again, people in Ireland will only retrospectively realise how the budget impacts on them, and we are likely to see further increases in inequality and poverty. The rationale for undertaking equality-proofing of the budget before it is presented is precisely to avoid the disproportionate disadvantaging of members of our society, as seen in recent years. Organisations such as Tasc, Grant Thornton, the ESRI, and even the Department of Social Protection have undertaken retrospective analysis of previous budgets, which clearly shows that certain members of our society have been hardest hit. With no change in the way we ‘do’ budget in Ireland, this picture is unlikely to change.”

Our ‘Equality Cake’. If Equality Budgeting were to be introduced, we would see a less divided society between the haves and the have-nots.

Members of Sinn Féin signing up and having some cake.

Cake was served up on plates detailing the inequalities present in Ireland today.

Equality Budgeting campaign members enjoying a well earned treat!

Róisín Shorthall admiring our Equality Cake.

Averil Power showing her support for equality proofing of budgets.

Emmett Stagg adding his support to equality proofing and fairness through budgets.

For more images of the day, please see our photoset on Flickr.

Under the EU-IMF financial assistance programme, the Irish State continues to seek savings of €440 million within its social welfare budget.

However, if we must cut our spending even further to meet austerity requirements, how do we ensure that cuts are equal, fair and allow people to live in basic dignity? Particularly in a context where more than 1.5 million people now depend on a social welfare payment for themselves and their families.

We in FLAC (the Free Legal Advice Centres) believe that the Government should consult in more depth with the people most heavily impacted by cuts – and follow international law on fundamental rights to achieve a just outcome in our budgetary decisions.

Human rights at the heart of budgetary decisions

FLAC has repeatedly called for human rights to be placed at the heart of Government’s budgetary decisions through impact assessments and Equality Budgeting follows a similar approach in relation to equality. In this light, FLAC’s Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA) project hosted a roundtable on Equality Budgeting with a number of civil society representatives on 18 July.  The discussion centred on how the Government can deliver a fairer, more equitable budget in line with the State’s own legal commitments. The Irish Equality Budgeting Campaign’s research on established models in other jurisdictions proved particularly valuable in framing the wider conversation.

The State has clearly defined what poverty means in an Irish context: it is a situation where a person’s“income and resources (material, cultural and social) are so inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living which is regarded as acceptable by Irish society generally”.

In 2011, 6.9 per cent of the Irish population was found to be living in consistent poverty; in other words, living in households with an income less than 60 per cent of the national median, and unable to afford such basics as adequate heating, replacement clothing or decent meals.  The Government has committed itself to reducing the rate of consistent poverty to four per cent by 2016 and to two per cent by 2020. If it keeps to its present course, however, it is not clear how this target can be met.

Households with children are most impacted by welfare cuts

Earlier this year, the Department of Social Protection published a Social Impact Assessment of Budget 2013 which gauged the impact of last year’s budget and direct taxation on specific groups in society – but only after the cuts had already been made. The Department asserted that these cuts did not make things worse for people, because the number of people at-risk-of-poverty remained unchanged at 16 per cent. However, it is equally clear that the cuts did not improve the situation of people already living, or at risk of living, below the poverty line. Households with children are most impacted by welfare cuts; consequently, lone parents with children have suffered the greatest losses.

Equally, while the Government has made strong belt-tightening commitments to the EU and IMF, it has also committed itself under international law to respecting, protecting and promoting human rights, including the right of people to live with dignity. A basic minimum income is not an optional extra. The right to an adequate standard of living is contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Council of Europe’s European Social Charter. Despite these requirements, the Irish Government has failed to deliver on this right for a substantial proportion of the population.

Reducing poverty and supporting dignified living

So what, if anything, can the Government do to ensure that it achieves its targets to reduce poverty and ensure that people living in Ireland have a dignified existence? There is no simple answer, but FLAC would argue that talking to those who will be affected by any changes or cuts would be a good start.

With an earlier date of 15 October set for this year’s Budget Day, FLAC and many other organisations have already sent in their proposals around welfare spending to the Department of Social Protection. We also attended a Pre-Budget Forum earlier this month. Here and through its Social Inclusion Forum,  the Department of Social Protection engages with organisations representing various social groups. But the Department should not just rely on a once-off box-ticking consultation. Instead, there should be ongoing consultation throughout the year.

The people most affected by cuts – those living in poverty – should be heard equally in the decision-making process before final decisions are made. Until they have a say in the decisions that affect them, their lack of participation will continue the vicious circle and remain “a defining feature and cause of poverty, rather than just its consequence” as outlined by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and extreme poverty, Magdalena Sepúlveda.

FLAC would ask the Government, in particular the Minister for Social Protection, to take a fresh look at the social protection budget from a human rights and equality perspective, so that everyone can enjoy an adequate, basic standard of living, even in these straitened times. In the forthcoming October Budget, the Government must put people at the heart of its policies to ensure that everyone’s rights are respected and that the State fulfils its international legal obligations.

Saoirse Brady is FLAC’s Policy and Advocacy Officer. Saoirse is responsible for FLAC’s policy work on social welfare law reform and is the author of Not Fair Enough (2012), calling for the reform of the social welfare appeals system and One Size Doesn’t Fit All (2009), a legal analysis of the State’s direct provision and dispersal system for asylum seekers.

FLAC’s Pre-Budget submission 2014 is available at www.flac.ie and you can support the Equality Budgeting Campaign at: www.equalitybudgeting.ie.

This article was originally published on thejournal.ie on July 24th, 2013.

Campaign Groups Responds to Equal Status (Amendment) Bill Vote

First Step Toward More Equitable Ireland Achieved

The Equality Budgeting Campaign, a group of over 30 civil society organisations, has responded to yesterday’s vote on the Equal Status (Amendment) Bill 2013. The bill, which was tabled by Sinn Féin, would have placed a positive duty on all public bodies to ensure equality of opportunity. It would have added new equality categories to existing equality legislation, and would have introduced mandatory impact assessments on budgetary measures. Spokesperson for the campaign, Dr. Clara Fischer, said that “the campaign was delighted to have the support of Fianna Fáil, United Left Alliance, all Independent TDs, and former Labour Party members, Roisin Shorthall and Colm Keaveney, for this bill. Although the government voted against it, we feel very strongly that this is a turning point in our campaign.”

“We are disappointed that Labour, in particular, have voted against equality-proofing, and thereby against their own official party policy. However, the campaign for increased equality in Ireland continues, and has been given a vital boost by yesterday’s vote. To have the issue of equality and impact assessments, particularly in relation to the budget, discussed in our national parliament is a significant achievement. We look forward to working further with our supporters to make equality budgeting a reality in Ireland.”

Further information on the bill:

http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/27075

The Equal Status (Amendment) Bill 2013 was tabled by Sinn Féin on Tuesday, 2^nd July, as a Private Members Bill. The bill was defeated by the government, with 89 votes against 46. SF, FF, ULA, Independents and former Labour Party members voted in support of the bill.

About the Equality Budgeting Campaign:

The Equality Budgeting Campaign is a broad-based coalition of NGOs, trade unions and concerned individuals seeking the introduction of equality budgeting in Ireland. Members include the National Women’s Council of Ireland, the Irish Feminist Network, SIPTU, SPARK (Single Parents Acting for the Rights of Kids), Campaign for Labour Policies, and Union of Students in Ireland. The campaign was set up in light of research showing increased levels of inequality in Ireland and the disproportionate disadvantaging of certain sections of Irish society by successive governments since the beginning of the economic crisis.

Facts:

• 1 in 10 people in Ireland experiences food poverty – Carney & Maitre, “Constructing a Food Poverty Indicator for Ireland using the Survey of Income and Living Conditions”, Department of Social Protection, 2012
• The deprivation rate of families headed by lone parents increased from 44.1% in 2009 to 56% in 2011
• The percentage of children living in consistent poverty increased from 6.3% in 2008 to 9.3% in 2011
• Those who are unemployed saw their deprivation rate increase from 34.3% in 2009 to 42.4% in 2011 – CSO EU SILC 2011
• Following a report on poverty in Ireland in 2011, the UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and Poverty called on Ireland to immediately implement a human rights review of all budgetary and recovery policies

Further information on equality budgeting available from here:

http://equalitybudgeting.ie/index.php/campaign-resources/eb-campaign-documents/