A/HRC/20/25 initiatives. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur welcomes information that in October 2011 a decree was issued pertaining to administrative sanctions for behaviour that hampers medical examination and treatment. 90. The Special Rapporteur had also cautioned about the effects of user fees in health on access to health services by people living in poverty. Recent information indicates that while the health insurance for the poor programme provides full fee coverage for the poor and 50 per cent coverage for the near poor, it appears to have reduced user fees only slightly, by 13 per cent.30 As the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health indicated after his recent mission, this initiative does not ensure financially accessible health care because out-of-pocket expenditures account for the majority of total health expenditures in the country.31 91. Sufficiently reliable and disaggregated data is essential to designing and implementing social protection and social services that address the needs of the population, and ensuring that the most vulnerable groups are taken into consideration. The Special Rapporteur recalls her previous recommendation to enhance data collection capacity. VI. Ireland 92. The Special Rapporteur undertook a mission to Ireland from 10 to 15 January 2011 (see A/HRC/17/34/Add.2), when the country was facing considerable economic hardship and political change. At the time of the visit, the Government had adopted a set of drastic budgetary adjustments designed to address the considerable budgetary deficit and to meet the strict requirements of an assistance package jointly provided by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. In the months that followed the Special Rapporteur’s visit, a new Government was elected and a new budget and recovery plan proposed, on the basis of which the Special Rapporteur made her recommendations. In December 2011, Budget 2012 was released, against which the present report will measure developments relevant to the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations. 93. The Government has indicated that its response to the questionnaire is forthcoming. The Special Rapporteur regrets that she did not receive this information in time to be included in the present report but looks forward to receiving the information in the hope that it will enable a continuing constructive dialogue and follow-up. She drew upon information provided by the Government to the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (A/HRC/WG.6/12/IRL/1) as well as the Working Group’s report (A/HRC/19/9). Extensive information was also provided to the Special Rapporteur by other stakeholders, including the NHRI and civil society organizations. A. Legal and institutional framework 94. In the mission report, the Special Rapporteur recommended that Ireland take steps to ratify several international treaties. She welcomes the announcement that Ireland will sign the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights32 as well as the commitment to pass the necessary legislation to enable the 30 31 32 18 A. Sepehri and others, ―Does the financial protection of health insurance vary across providers? Viet Nam’s experience‖, Social Science & Medicine, vol. 73, No. 4 (August 2011), p. 565. See www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=11683&LangID=E. See www.labour.ie/press/listing/13310363804255512.html.