Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

As Members will be aware, the Seanad Public Consultation Committee recently held successful hearings on Ireland's obligations under the UN human rights treaty on civil and political rights and we subsequently sent that report in to the United Nations. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, will be before the United Nations committee on Monday next in Geneva for exchanges on how well Ireland is doing in complying with its human rights obligations. I wish to advise Members that one of this month's newsletters of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights featured the Seanad Public Consultation Committee report that has gone in to the committee in Geneva. It notes that it is a matter of good practice and that, as we found in the hearings, it is rare when parliamentary Members participate in the process of reviewing their country's human rights obligations under a UN human rights treaty. The United Nations noted the matter in its newsletter of this month, put on its page a screen grab of our website calling for submissions on civil and political rights, and quoted the committee's chair, Senator O'Donovan, with regard to what we are doing. It is quite significant, certainly in the United Nations and human rights world, that our committee has been noted in that newsletter that has gone out around the world.

In light of that, I wish to ask the Leader two questions. First, I ask that he would ensure that the Minister for Justice and Equality, in her remarks in exchanges with the committee in Geneva on Monday next, will refer to our report, which, I suppose, was an effort to support the Government in its exchange with the committee. Second, as Members may be aware, after every such hearing committees release concluding observations on the exchange with the member state. I ask that, in the autumn, the Leader might ask that the Minister come into the House and that we could have a debate on those concluding observations.