Ms Siobhan Curran:

I thank the Chairman and committee for the invitation to speak today. I look forward to the discussion and to answering any questions members might have.

Trócaire is campaigning on business and human rights in response to widespread reports of corporate human rights abuses in the communities in which we work, including the displacement of communities, violent evictions, pollution of land and destruction of livelihoods, which have a disproportionate impact on indigenous communities and women. For example, in Myanmar at present, 7,000 people risk being displaced due to the planned construction of dams on the Tanintharyi River, while the livelihood of a further 22,000 people is at risk, not to mention the environmental impacts. The communities have not been consulted, yet their lives will be irreversibly impacted if the transnational corporations proceed with these developments. In Honduras, the indigenous Tolupanes community is facing relentless threats and attacks for protecting its forest from logging companies. This community has lost over 100 defenders in the protection of its lands. These are just two examples, but the trend we are observing is that those who question and resist the destruction of their lands and communities are facing brutal consequences, including killings, attacks, criminalisation and repression.

The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights has referred to the data on disappearances, killings and assassinations as a horror story. Many of these defenders are indigenous people who are defending our environment and their protection benefits all of us. Despite the adverse human rights impacts that corporations can have in communities, there is a major gap in the regulation of corporate activities by states and in access to remedy for victims. Transnational corporations, in particular, use complex legal structures to avoid accountability. Corporations operate across borders and it can be very difficult to attribute responsibility to parent companies. Companies can profit from operating in countries where laws guaranteeing human rights or environmental standards do not exist or are not adequately enforced. This must be addressed. Global regulation has largely developed in the form of voluntary guidance, which is not being implemented.

In recognition of this gap, the UN intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises was established in 2014 to elaborate a legally binding treaty to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises. This UN treaty could address the global governance gap and create a level playing field for businesses with respect to human rights. The latest draft of the treaty published in July 2019 has addressed the previous concerns of Ireland and the EU, including the scope of the instrument, which is now not limited to transnational corporations, and alignment with the UN guiding principles on business and human rights. Given that the concerns have been addressed by the chair of the UN working group, we recommend that Ireland support the UN treaty, develop a public position on it and push for EU support and for an EU negotiation mandate for the sixth session in October 2020 in Geneva.

Along with the UN treaty at global level, following France's adoption of a duty of vigilance law in 2017, other countries are now adopting or discussing mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation. We wish to see Ireland being part of this trend. Such legislation would establish a corporate duty to respect human rights and would require that companies identify, assess and act to prevent and address human rights abuses and environmental harm across their activities and value chain. It would also hold companies legally accountable and provide justice for victims. This is in line with the independent baseline assessment of the legislative and regulatory framework on business and human rights that was commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and published last March. It recommends that the State consider the adoption of mandatory human rights due diligence and that this be a minimum requirement for State companies.

The European Commission has initiated a study on the regulatory options that could be pursued at EU level. That is essentially the foundation for an EU directive on human rights and environmental due diligence. We recommend that Ireland support this. To recap, stronger regulation is needed to provide a legal framework to ensure corporations do not violate human rights in their operations. Voluntary guidelines are not enough. We call for regulation to be developed at the global, EU and national levels and for Ireland to play a part in each element of that.