Constitutionalise Economic Social and Cultural Rights

Irish society is fractured, unfair and insecure because successive governments has been unwilling to incorporate economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights into domestic law, which would force government to deliver policies that tackle poverty, provide housing, control rents, bring healthcare to everybody and guarantee a decent income for everyone.
It’s pretty obvious that Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister Frances Fitzgerald have no interest in human rights measures that would oblige government to address social injustice. So, homelessness, exploitative rents and crippling mortgages are set to continue and the likelihood that your parents or grandparents will end up on a hospital trolley after devoting their life to building this nation will endure. Almost a third of the population will still be unable to afford essential items such as heating, a warm coat or an adequate meal.
Yet these abominations are infinitely solvable within our existing resources - we are after all, one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Are we going to put up with this? Are we prepared to let things that were hard fought for - healthcare, affordable housing, a decent income – slip away, so wealthy people can be even wealthier?
It doesn’t have to be so. Ireland has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights but has failed to incorporate the Covenant into domestic law, claiming that economic, social and cultural matters are for government to decide. Yet governments have consistently failed to address poverty, homelessness and other situations arising from an absence of enforceable ESC rights.
Thomas Pringle will introduce a Private Member’s Bill in the coming months proposing a referendum to strengthen constitutional protection of ESC rights in accordance with the recommendations of the Convention on the Constitution.
With your support we can make this happen. Please indicate your support by putting your name to this demand. Be part of this human rights campaign.
Together we can make it happen!