A Better Way of Doing Things
Introduction
1.) Our objectives are these:
2.) This means that the operation of our Constitution should be under continuous scrutiny. So should the structures of government and the public service. The way courts are run, the way the Oireachtas and local government performs – all these are areas where we should be constantly assessing whether changes or reforms are desirable or necessary.
The Constitution
3.) The Report of the Constitution Review Group and its examination by an all-Party Committee of the Oireachtas will be of considerable political and civic importance in the lifetime of the next Government.
4.) The first report of the committee, dealing with the Presidency, local government, the constitutionality of Bills and the position of women in the home has recently been published. We support many of its proposals for change.
5.) In particular we support, and will propose for adoption by way of constitutional amendment, the reformulation of the Constitution in gender neutral language (our President is constitutionally a man).
6.) The outdated reference in Article 41.2 to woman’s "life within the home" should be replaced by a provision along the following lines:
"The State recognises that home and family life gives to society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved. The State shall endeavour to support persons caring for others within the home".
7.) Other amendments, some minor and some of significance, will emerge from the review process. Labour will participate fully in this work.
8.) The Review Group Report recommended in general against expanded provisions setting out social and economic rights in a constitutional context. It rejected the argument that at constitutional level the State should guarantee a general – and legally enforceable – right to freedom from poverty and social exclusion, as a counterweight to economic inequality. It was argued that it would be "a distortion of democracy to transfer decisions on major issues of policy and practicality from the Government and the Oireachtas, elected to represent the people, and do their will, to an unelected judiciary". In other words, absolute personal rights in the Constitution in relation to economic or social objectives would leave the Oireachtas with no option but to discharge the cost.
9. ) In this Manifesto, Labour has been arguing the merits of social cohesion, and for expanding and working on the concept of a Social Guarantee. We believe that the inclusion of some social and economic rights in the Constitution is both politically practicable and legally feasible and should be a high priority for work by an Oireachtas Committee in the future.
10.) Two examples of this approach can be taken from the work of the Review Group itself. The first recognises the status of carers within the home and pledges the State to endeavour to support such activity. Such a pledge, which is socio-economic rather than of a fundamental human rights nature, would be enforceable in an appropriate case.
11.) The second example comes from the Review Group’s proposals to replace Article 42.4, dealing with free primary education. The Group proposes to expand this so as to include also a right to free secondary education.
12.) Both these examples show that socio-economic rights need to be open-ended or rob the Government and Oireachtas entirely of discretion asto the manner in which they are observed and vindicated. It is practical, if the political will is there, to reconcile two essential requirements: firstly, to state the right and, secondly, to express it so as to ensure that it is not stated in an unrealistic and absolute way.
13.) Labour proposes, therefore, that the section on fundamental rights in our Constitution should be evaluated carefully with a view to including an expanded list of social and economic rights. As well as the right to education and the rights of carers within the home, these could include, for example:
14.) There would be a constitutional guarantee of a minimum level of universal entitlement to such rights, but the rights would, of necessity, be drafted with qualifications relating to prevailing resources and standards.
15.) Labour agrees with the Review Group that, in any programme of constitutional amendment, opportunity should be taken to spell out explicitly in the Constitution those unenumerated rights which the courts have discovered to be implicit in the text of the Constitution and which they seek to protect.
These would include:
16.) We also support the Group`s recommendation that, in seeking to improve and update the fundamental human rights Articles of the Constitution, we should draw on the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (and other human rights conventions to which Ireland is a party) where:
17.) Labour is fully committed to removing the ban on revealing Cabinet discussions, in clearly defined circumstances where the public interest is at stake.
18.) The qualifying age for voters is now 18 years. However, the minimum qualifying age for membership of the Dáil remains at 21 years. Labour proposes that the minimum qualifying age for both voting and membership of the Dáil should be similar, i.e., 18 years.
19.) We will oppose a further constitutional referendum on the abortion issue.
Human Rights
20.) The promotion and vindication of human rights in the first duty of Government, Labour is committed to ensuring that full effect is given in Irish law to international human rights agreements to which Ireland is a party. These human rights agreements include the U.N.Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
21.) We are also committed to the progressive implementation of Council of Europe and United Nations Conventions which Ireland has not yet ratified or to which we have entered reservations.
22.) We will establish a independent Human Rights Commission whose primary function would be systematically to:
23.) The Commission would have the brief of promoting public and official awareness of human rights and the State’s international commitments in this area. It would examine individual complaints with a view to assisting complainants in securing their rights.
Access to Law
24.) No matter how much provision is made for substantive rights, including equality of rights, there remain many who do not know how, or cannot afford, to assert them. As the Constitutional Review Group pointed out, lack of finance, insufficient knowledge and the social and cultural gaps which exist between lawyer and client all contribute to the unequal treatment suffered by those living in areas of disadvantage.
25.) Labour in Government placed the Legal Aid Board on a permanent statutory footing and a sound financial base. We are committed to increasing its services.
26.) We will also place the ad hoc scheme of legal aid administered by the Attorney General’s Office on a statutory basis and transfer responsibility for its operations to the Legal Aid Board. The scheme is at present an informal one whereby the Attorney General, according to no fixed criteria, may undertake to a court in advance to pay the costs of an impecunious applicant who wishes to take certain types of action against the State in circumstances not covered by the Legal Aid Act. There is no set means test under which the scheme operates.
27.) But access to law means more than just access to a lawyer. It means that the law itself – in the form of Acts of t he Oireachtas – must be available, reasonably comprehensible and written, as far as possible, in plain English. There are many cases in which you should not need a lawyer to find out what the rules are in a particular area. As matters stand, it takes most lawyers unnecessary time to track down the parent Act, the several amending Acts and then the dozens of statutory instruments made under each piece of legislation. Pre 1922 statutes – many of which are still in force in the Republic – are no longer even available for sale in the Government Publications Sales Office.
28.) We are committed to the consolidation of all major areas of law (planning, family, sexual offences, etc.) into one single statute for each subject. To that end, we will re-establish the post of Director of Statute Law Reform and Consolidation – a position which has lain vacant for 20 years. We will charge the Director, with the aid of information technology, with the basic task of reducing the statute roll to modern and manageable proportions.
29.) We will also commission the advice of the Law Reform Commission on the use of plain language and syntax in the law and we will implement that advice.
Letting in the Light
30.) Full access to public information is a key for active citizenship.
Our aim is to:
31.) Labour supports the conclusions and recommendations of the Dáil Committee on Security and Legislation, set out in its review of the Official Secrets Act reported in January this year. In particular, we agree that the 1963 Act should be repealed at the earliest possible date and replaced by criminal sanctions which apply only in relation to:
32.) The Labour Party in Government has already delivered on two key issues-enactment of Freedom of Information legislation and the lifting of the Section 31 ban which applied both to RTE and to commercial broadcasters.
33.) Other areas for legislative action to enhance citizenship and access to information include contempt of court laws, extension of the Archive Act to the wider public service, widening the Data Protection Act, broadening citizen’s rights of access to the Ombudsman, and removing exemptions in the Statutory Instruments Act.
34.) We will examine, as a package, the possible introduction of privacy protection legislation, and reform of the laws of defamation. In doing so we will take into account the work of the Law Reform Commission and the recommendations of the Commission on the Newspaper Industry, as a linked package of reform.
35.) Labour supports giving statutory recognition to the journalist’s duty to protect his or her sources before a court of law but not as an absolute entitlement.Not other profession, including the legal profession, has such an absolute privilege. We would support the minority view set out in a Report of the Law Reform Commission on Contempt of Court, where it is recommended that a court should not be permitted to order a witness to disclose a confidential source of information – even where such evidence is clearly relevant and admissible – unless obtaining that evidence is clearly necessary:
Government & Public Service
36.) The process of reform of public administration in Ireland has been hugely advanced in recent years. In 1993, Labour was instrumental in pioneering a number of new government departments – Equality & Law Reform, Enterprise & Employment, Art, Culture & the Gaeltacht, and Tourism & Trade. In the main, these innovations have worked extremely well in advancing reforms, in providing new energy and focus, and in delivering better services.
37.) As well, key legislation elements of the reform agenda are either completed or close to completion; for example, the Freedom of Information Act, Ethics in Public Office Act, Privilege and Compellability measures to enhance the work of Oireachtas Committees, and the proposals on Cabinet Confidentiality.
38.) The Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) process was launched last year. Its broad object is to renew and reform, with the cooperation of employees and their trade unions, the management performance and efficiency of the public service to ensure a better delivery of services to the public.
39.)Labour initiated many of these reforms, and supported others. In our view, it is important to view public service reforms as being based on citizens’ entitlements – for example, to quality service delivery. We are dealing in the case of many services with citizens’ rights, not with "customers" or "clients" as in a commercial market place. The underlying philosophy of the providers should reflect this.
40.) We believe that there can be an improved role for Ministers of State. Their responsibilities must be made specific, and their authority must accurately reflect the span of their mandates – such as the Minister for Children, for instance, who was appointed in Education, Health, and Justice.
41.) On this basis, labour believes that there is a strong case for re-designing the responsibilities of some Ministers of State, and for the appointment of office-holders (within the existing complement), to ensure progress is made in the following new areas of responsibility:
Reforming the Civil Service
42.) Much of the framework for reform is now in place. Radical and fundamental change in principles, practices and culture of the way public business is done must now be realised. The scale and nature of the change required is heavily dependent on strong political ownership. Failure by the political system to recognise and own this reform programme would damage and impair its implementation.
43.) There are a number of key requirements.
44.) Firstly such administrative change requires a strong political champion to generate and sustain the support. Otherwise the natural instinct of any bureaucratic system towards inertia, and assistance from different interests, will combine to delay and thwart change.
45.) Secondly, resources must be devoted to making the change programme come about. This will not happen without political commitment. The scale of the changes to be addressed will require political choices about redeployment of resources. It would be unrealistic to expect civil servants to pursue a difficult reform programme in the teeth of a political system wedded to an entirely different agenda.
46.) An increased emphasis on human resource management, and enhanced training arrangements, are both essential. New structures may be required to deal with the human resources aspect of public service reform. This will have to be handed with sensitivity and care in a spirit of partnership.
The Defence Forces – An Agenda for Change
47.) The Labour Party recognises the valuable and unselfish service given to the State by men and women in the Defence Forces and Civil Defence, and acknowledges the major contribution of the Defence Forces to international peace-keeping.
48.) Labour believes that a White Paper on all aspects of Defence and Civil Defence, should be prepared within one year. It should set out the challenges and issues, including manpower and recruitment, which face the Defence Forces well into the next century. Following the White Paper, a comprehensive Defence Bill would be developed and published.
49.) We advocate:
50.) In addition, Labour proposes that serious consideration should be given to the establishment by statute of a civilian Inspector General of the Defence Forces to report annually to the Ministers and the Oireachtas on how the Defence Forces are achieving their mission. The Inspector General could also act as a Defence Forces Ombudsman in relation to redress of wrong cases.
Local Government
51.) Brendan Howlin, some months ago, announced a wide-ranging programme for reform and renewal of local government. Such renewal, if it is to be real and lasting, must come to a significant extent from the local government level itself: There must be self-renewal.
52.) Labour’s programme of local government reform is underpinned by the following core principles.
Enhancing local democracy by ensuring that:
Serving local people better through:
Developing efficiency through:
53.) The process of renewal has already started. Local government charges for domestic water supply and sewerage facilities have been abolished and the authorities have been provided, by way of motor taxation, with a source of revenue with in-built buoyancy and local discretion.
54.) Further specific steps to be taken will include the following:
55.) The Dublin and Mid-East regional authorities will be assigned a role in drawing up land use planning guidelines for the entire greater Dublin area, which will have to be respected by the local authorities in that area when considering development plans. This will be extended to other parts of the country as necessary.
The National Economic & Social Council and the National Economic & Social Forum
56.) The NESC and NESF both fulfil important complementary roles in the process of economic and social policy formation, and in fostering quality dialogue in the partnership context. The role of the NESF, as an independent body developing innovative economic and social policy initiatives, will be strengthened and enhanced.
57.) For the future, Labour proposes that:
