The challenges to realising the right to health in Ireland

Abstract

Political will is vital to realising the right to the highest attainable standard of health found in Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and its related General Comment No 14 (General Comment No 14, para 12 (www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(symbol)/E.C.12.2000.4.En)). Domestic stakeholders influence the political will to the realisation of this right. This chapter analyses the challenges in realising the right to health in Ireland where stakeholders wielded significant power. It reveals that there is no enforceable legal right to health in Ireland and that there is significant political discretion in realising the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality objectives of General Comment No 14. The Catholic Church and medical profession have exercised a dominant influence over Irish health policy for decades. A consequence of this influence was that the Irish health system developed a unique mix of public and private health care which continues to hamper the realisation of the availability and accessibility objectives of General Comment No 14. The chapter discovers that there is a significant challenge in achieving the acceptability objective in Ireland with religious homogeneity. It discusses the role of the Catholic Church in access to health care with a focus on family planning. Finally, the chapter discusses Ireland's progress in achieving the quality objective of General Comment No 14 because all stakeholders desired improvements in the quality of healthcare delivery.