Irish Examiner
The Irish Human Rights Commission has appealed to the Government to reverse drastic cuts to its budget and warned any failure to do so will threaten its ability to carry out its functions. Ahead of the launch of its annual report today, the commission’s president said that it was struggling to cope with its workload. Dr Maurice Manning said the Irish Human Rights Commission was in discussions with officials from the Department of Justice about overturning changes to its budget, which have been cut by nearly a third. He said:
The commission has found it difficult to cope with what amounted to a 32% cut in its budget this year. The commission has continued to talk to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform with a view to procuring at least a partial reversal of this cut.
Following last October’s emergency budget, it was announced the commission’s funds would be slashed by 24%. This cut is actually 32% following its receipt of extra funds in late 2008. The change has seen its then budget of €2.34 million dropped to €1.56 million.
