12th Session of the UPR Working Group
Delegation of the United States of America
Geneva, October 4, 2011
– as delivered –
The United States warmly welcomes His Excellency, Minister Shatter and the Irish delegation to the UPR Working Group and congratulates Ireland on the completion of its national report and its excellent presentation today. We have carefully reviewed the report and followed the presentation, and would like to offer the following observations and recommendation.
We commend Ireland for establishing a Commission of Investigation to examine the clerical sexual abuse of minors and for assigning child protection matters to a stand alone government agency. We encourage Ireland to carry out a transparent and thorough investigation.
Ireland’s National Women’s Strategy is a commendable effort to combat gender inequality in the workplace, and we also welcome Ireland’s committed review of its laws against domestic violence, as the minister has detailed here today.
We commend Ireland for its efforts to provide housing and social services for Irish Travellers, as evidenced by the central Government’s funding of over €90 million for these programs from 2008-2010.
Regarding trafficking in persons, we are pleased that Ireland has increased investigations and implementation of its 2008 trafficking law.
We share Ireland’s concern over sanitation conditions in prison facilities, and we note that Ireland is actively constructing and upgrading prison accommodations to improve cleanliness.
Bearing in mind these concerns, the United States would like to recommend that Ireland continue its efforts to incorporate in-cell sanitation in all prison facilities.