Mr. Colm O'Gorman:

I thank the committee for inviting us to address it on the Irish Presidency's role in EU human rights policy and, more particularly, on our recommendations to the Irish Presidency on what it could do to advance the promotion and protection of human rights during its term. We have circulated copies of these comments and of the recommendations to members. As the committee will be aware, we met the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade at the launch of these recommendations in January. The Tánaiste welcomed them and noted the Presidency's firm commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights in Ireland, Europe and globally. I am happy to state that we have had a great deal of engagement with several Ministers and key officials to date. We take this opportunity to indicate our gratitude in respect of debriefing sessions we have been able to have with the Irish Permanent Representative to the EU. Those sessions have been extremely useful during the Presidency thus far.

Our specific recommendations, contained in our mid-term review, covered a range of issues including the implementation of the EU action plan on human rights and democracy, the fair treatment of migrants and asylum seekers, Roma rights, corporate accountability, violence against women, fighting discrimination, the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights and criminal justice in the EU. Our priority issues for the Presidency have been violence against women and Roma issues. Copies of our recommendations and the mid-term review we published have been circulated to members for their attention.

As we passed the halfway point of the Presidency, we noted some important progress that had been made, including the role Ireland is playing at the United Nations Human Rights Council and the prioritisation by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, of the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law in Europe during Ireland's Presidency. Unfortunately, however, there are two areas in respect of which we felt the Presidency might have been stronger. To date, there has been the regrettable lack of engagement on EU action to combat female genital mutilation, FGM. We were very heartened, however, by the Tánaiste's comments in Brussels last month to the effect that this issue is now on the Presidency's agenda and will be brought forward. We hope this commitment will translate to the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, placing an item on the agenda for the upcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council in June. In our view, this would confirm the presidency's support for the European Commission's initiative of a consultation on EU action to end FGM. The Commission is very clear in its desire to move this matter forward and we are of the opinion that it is incredibly important that the Presidency should make a clear statement on and take action to support that intention.

On the issue of discrimination against Roma, we hope the important political message in the Irish Presidency's statement on International Roma Day will be matched by action during the remainder of its term. No discussion on human rights in the EU can credibly take place without serious consideration of the plight of the 12 million Roma people across Europe - 6 million of whom live in the EU - who suffer pervasive and systemic discrimination. We welcome the invitation extended by the Chairman to Oona Mihalache to attend the plenary session of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union, COSAC, and give an address during the session on '"A Future for Young Europeans". It is very important that the human rights issues faced by Roma be discussed at this event.

As members will be aware, we came before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade in February. We have also asked to come before the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. I wish to stress why we were so keen to come before this committee in particular. The Lisbon treaty has increased the role national parliaments play in EU decision-making processes. Earlier this year we met with the Chairman, Deputy Hannigan, to discuss - among other things - the Irish presidency's role in chairing COSAC. Together with the European Parliament, the committee plays a vital role in overseeing and scrutinising EU policy. In particular, it plays a role in strategic planning dialogues with the European Commission. Amnesty International also engages in discussions around the state of the Union address each year, and last September we forwarded our letter to Commission President José Manuel Barroso on this subject to the committee for its attention. In his 2012 state of the Union address, President Barroso called for better means of tackling the EU's internal human rights problems. Members will be aware that the need for a new EU mechanism on human rights was also discussed at the General Affairs Council on 22 April.

There has been much discussion in Brussels recently about the so-called Copenhagen dilemma, whereby the conditions with which we demand states should comply before accession to the Union during the enlargement process are never spoken of once any state becomes a member of the club. This constitutes a refusal to analyse human rights issues within the European Union. In our view there is a need for the European Union to take collective responsibility for this. The committee has a vital role to play in this regard because it can ensure that debates on these issues take place not only at meetings of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade or the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality but also at its own meetings in the context of the need for an EU response in respect of such issues. Of particular note in this debate has been the Minister for Justice and Equality's prioritisation of protection of fundamental rights and promotion of the rule of law in Europe during Ireland's Presidency. EU-level political support for such initiatives is vital if the EU is to defend its credibility as an entity founded on respect for human rights. We were very glad also to have had the opportunity to participate at in the Presidency conference last week on the issue of "A Europe of Equal Citizens: Equality, Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law".

I wish to make some comments on enlargement, which will be an item on the agenda for the COSAC meeting in June. We appreciate that the enlargement process has been a key part of the Irish Presidency programme. We met the Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs, Deputy Creighton, and officials from the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the EU to discuss these matters in more detail. Enlargement negotiations should be engaged with constructively in order to maximise the potential to improve the human rights situation in the countries concerned. Croatia will accede to the European Union this summer. While progress has occurred in that country domestically in recent years, further attention will have to be paid to the position there post-accession in order to ensure that victims and their families are provided with access to truth, justice and reparations for human rights violations committed during the 1991 to 1995 war. With regard to other countries in the Balkans, we are highly concerned about reports that continued impunity for war crimes and failings in domestic accountability could be given less prominence - as currently appears to be the case with Montenegro - during future negotiations. We will be discussing this further with the relevant officials before the end of the Presidency in order to ensure that the accession process is used to its full potential to deliver human rights change across the Balkans. We are of the view that it is important that these points should also be raised at the COSAC meeting in June.

In our Presidency recommendations, we have also included nine cases of people under threat. The adoption of the EU guidelines on human rights defenders was one of the key outcomes of the Irish Presidency in 2004. As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International asked the Irish Presidency to ensure the EU's active engagement in these cases. We have suggested how this might be done in our recommendations. There is much more detail on those cases and on the steps we think the EU Presidency could take in that regard.

I thank members of the joint committee for their attention. We would welcome any questions at this point.