Trevor Sargent
Question:127 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the details of the new human rights training module that is apparently in place in the Garda training college in Templemore. [7491/03]
Other Questions. - Garda Training.
I have been informed by the Garda authorities that the human rights training for the Garda Síochána currently provided at the Garda College, Templemore is as follows: Human rights and diversity training is provided for trainee gardaí. There is an inspectors' and sergeants' development course, a two day seminar, entitled "human rights, anti-racism and ethics", which aims to provide a basic introduction to international human rights standards.
In order to further enhance and support human rights training, a generic human rights training course for Garda teacher-trainers has been developed and will be delivered between March and September this year to 132 teacher-trainers. The aim of the course is to facilitate the integration of human rights concerns, norms, principles and ethics into all relevant aspects of training courses.
In accordance with best practice the course will be delivered by internal and external experts. It is proposed to involve staff from the Garda human rights office and the racial and inter-cultural office as well as Amnesty International and the University of Ulster.
I thank the Minister for his reply. I very much welcome this progressive development. Will the Minister elaborate a bit more on it? As he knows, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties has called for this for quite some time. It wants to know exactly how often will students have this particular module. How often does it happen and is it simply a case of half an hour a week?
The Minister once famously described the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform as racially prejudiced. That was before he became Minister. Does he agree that it might be a good idea if such a course was also introduced for his officials?
In regard to members of the Garda and students who are going through Templemore, there is currently a module on human rights. It should be stressed that human rights are not merely to be found in what it is now fashionably called "human rights", but the exemplification of our Constitution is also a human rights agenda which infuses everything that happens in Templemore and under which all of us have to operate. A training course for teachers-trainers is now being put in place so that all the teachers-trainers will infuse all their courses with human rights awareness rather than merely include a human rights module. It is perfectly reasonable that human rights should infuse everything.
From all my dealings with it, I am satisfied that the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is the moving party in this country in relation to racial awareness and the moving agency in combating discrimination. The Department has been transformed dramatically, and I am not claiming credit for this. The merger of the Departments of Justice and Equality and Law Reform, which took place in 1997, has had a beneficial effect on both Departments.
Does the Minister accept that this has been an amazing transformation, given that he, in his article in the Sunday Independent in 1998, was so damning in his criticism of that Department? Who takes the credit for this won derful transformation to a Department which now understands the need for proper racial integration? The Minister previously stated that the Department's agenda had included the preservation of a racially homogeneous society. What has caused the transformation and who takes credit for it?
When I mentioned racial homogeneity I was referring to the well acknowledged data from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s when, in particular, people of the Jewish faith who sought admission to Ireland and members of the Jewish community who sought leave for their co-religionists to come and live here faced undoubted discrimination at the hands of the Irish State in general and the Department of Justice in particular. Anyone who doubts that need only look at some of the published literature in relation to that matter.
More recently, it is undoubtedly the case too that the Department was on a learning curve in dealing with multi-racialism in Ireland. The article to which the Deputy refers concerned a scene, which was the subject of general disquiet in this House, of 200 adults and children queuing in the rain on a Saturday morning in St. Stephen's Green while trying to obtain documentation. Things have moved on dramatically since then.
Operation hyphen. It was well named.
The Minister is making a speech and he is going over time.
I invite Deputies who are interested in this subject to come with me to visit the new premises on Burgh Quay where these transactions now take place. I have visited that office and have been absolutely impressed by the humanity, decency and amenity which is provided for people in these circumstances compared with what used to be the case.