The Minister of State with responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration, David Stanton TD, has announced that the Government will establish a new Anti-Racism Committee to help in the fight against racial discrimination in Ireland. The announcement comes as Minister Stanton submitted the progress report to Government on the Migrant Integration Strategy 2017-2020.
The key finding of the Progress Report is the importance of the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to successful integration, and the benefits it brings to all aspects of Irish life. While the progress report highlights a number of successes – including up to €15m granted in Integration Funding Programmes, the research programmes conducted by the ESRI for the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration, and the Education (Admissions to Schools) Act 2018 amongst others – the report also helps identify areas where efforts need to intensify in the months ahead. As a result, actions will now be developed to particularly address areas where outcomes for migrants need to be improved. These areas are combatting racism; employment; English language acquisition; and the promotion of integration at the local level.
A new Anti-Racism Committee will be established later this year and will include representatives of the public, private and voluntary sector and expert views. It will hold a stakeholder dialogue to assess the latest evidence and to identify the views of wider civil society, the business sector, media and other relevant parties. The Committee will also help to generate ideas for reducing racist abuse in the public sphere.
For more information
View Progress Report on Ireland’s National Migrant Integration Strategy
Department of Justice and Equality press release: Minister Stanton announces new Anti-Racism Committee
