Minister Shatter presents Ireland's Case to the Universal Periodic Review

Through OWN's alliance with Older & Bolder, it was a great honour to be asked to join the Irish Council for Civil Liberties delegation to Geneva to attend Ireland's hearing on our human rights record. I have always been very interested in children's rights and women's rights but at this stage of my life my attention is turned towards the rights of the older woman. The trip, organised by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, allowed us to observe the hearing which was part of the Universal Periodic Review [UPR] This aims to improve the human rights situation in all 192 United Nations countries. Each country's record will be reviewed every four years and October 2011 was the first time for Ireland.

Before the review, OWN and Older and Bolder like many other groups, made submissions to the UPR regarding Ireland's human rights record and set out a number of concerns. These concerns included: the fact that the right to health and personal services is not defined in Irish legislation and that the right to advocacy is not enshrined in Irish law; Ireland's inability to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities and the erosion of Ireland's social protection systems during these challenging economic times.

In their work to promote and protect the human rights of older women in Ireland, OWN's excellent submission highlighted many issues.

The major pathways into retirement in Ireland are the State Pensions; contributory and non-contributory.52% of older females are on these programmes and 68% of males, so their share is 16% higher. This is because women's work patterns were interrupted due to family care responsibilities, children, ageing parents and in-laws. It is hard to believe these days that a woman was barred from continuing to work in the public service if she got married.This lasted right up to the 1970s. Women's higher risk of poverty is compounded by the fact that while 40% of males have a second pillar of income through occupational pensions, only about 26% of females have this second pillar. We also live longer!

Although the Irish government has committed to improve the health status of women through gender focused policies, little progress has taken place to date.The lack of gender awareness in clinical studies also affects our knowledge of the ageing process and its related challenges.

OWN also expressed its concerns about the lack of statistical data regarding elder abuse, neglect and violence against older women and also their insecurity in respect of their financial, medical and housing needs.

The delegation of Ireland was headed by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter TD. He gave the Irish Government's report to the UN Human Rights Council, highlighting that a Minister of State has been appointed to implement the National Positive Ageing Strategy. He explained the aim of the Strategy which he said was "to enable people as they grow older to maintain and improve their physical, social and mental well-being...." but was scant on detail as to what measures would be put in place. He briefly mentioned the construction of the Health Service Executive's (HSE) Elder Abuse Service.

He emphasised that Ireland's commitment to human rights in general, was based on the principle that governments must 'always act with the intention of respecting the rights of individual and human dignity.' It also confirmed a commitment to having accessible, affordable arrangements in place so that those whose rights have been infringed can vindicate their rights, and noted in particular the importance of this right for the most vulnerable members of Irish society. The Irish government also gave a commitment to introduce a system of universal heath care, based on medical need rather than ability to pay.

After the government's report, UN member countries could make statements, ask questions and make recommendations. 49 delegations made statements. Of particular interest, Iraq noted that Ireland has extended a standing invitation to Human Rights Council Special Procedures and that it was paying particular importance to the rights of elderly people. France noted Ireland's failure to ratify the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and remarked on the under-representation of women in political and public life.

62 recommendations were made at the hearing - 49 were considered and 15 were rejected, many of which mostly referred to the issues of abortion, racism and the rights of migrants.

Some commitments of note included Minister Shatter's confirmation that a referendum on children's rights would be held early next year in order to bring Ireland into line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Minister also made a commitment to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which would allow individuals to complain about alleged violations of these rights at international level. Minister Shatter also acknowledged the urgent need to modernise our mental capacity legislation in order to protect vulnerable people, and to allow Ireland to ratify the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Ireland, like many other countries in the UN, must improve its human rights performance in general and in relation to the Older Person specifically. A number of commitments and promises were made by Alan Shatter and the Government's progress will be closely monitored by OWN and other civil society organisations between now and its next appointment with the UPR process in March 2012.

My Human Rights Training and trip to the Palais Des Nations to witness the UN in session was a thrilling experience. It was wonderful to be invited to the UPR session because it linked a member of the local community with the international community. It was a very steep learning curve!

Anne McSweeney Healy