Today, CAN welcomes the findings of The European Committee of Social Rights within The Council of Europe (click here to download. Pages 106 – 112 relate to FIDH v Ireland 2017) which for the third time states: “Ireland is not in conformity with article 16 of the Revised European Social Charter”. This relates to the right of the family to social, legal and economic protection. The right to adequate housing is fundamental to the realisation of this right for families.
In particular, the report finds that: “the legal framework for the right to housing for families in Ireland is still insufficient, local authority housing tenants continue to live with inadequate housing standards and there are no national statistics on the conditions of local authority housing stock”.
The Committee of Social Rights, which is made up of independent experts from across the European Union, asks “for information on the adoption and implementation of all the measures envisaged in order to remedy the situation”.
This finding is a shocking reflection on the lack of engagement of the State with the National Reporting mechanism, and how the commitments contained in these reports are largely theoretical and in no way practical and effective.
All relevant reports relating to this Collective Complaint can be found here.