Ms Siobhan Curran:

On the issue of reluctance to change, Ireland has taken many of its positioning cues from the European Union, which has opposed the United Nations treaty and any legally binding regulation for corporations. The view of civil society is that European Union companies are headquartered here and there is a risk of losing them because of this type of regulation. We must also consider the power of the corporate lobby. Ireland has taken the position of the European Union until now and when we ask about Ireland's position on the treaty, the messages have been somewhat positive, as the Deputy noted, but the opposition has been around issues of scope and the United Nations guiding principles.

With regard to scope, Ireland's opposition comes from the fact that the treaty does not cover domestic enterprises. Taking that to its conclusion, one might assume that Ireland wants domestic legislation for corporations, so we must push that issue. Now that the treaty has been revised, the two elements cited by Ireland as concerns have been addressed. Now is the moment when we need Ireland to be very vocal in support of the treaty. We welcome the Tánaiste saying he is open to progressing this within the European Union but a very definitive statement of position from Ireland in support of the treaty would be very useful. It would also be very useful if Ireland could look at the steps that the United Nations chair of the intergovernmental working group outlined from the last session, when comments on the draft treaty and a national stakeholder consultation were requested.

There are very practical things Ireland can do. The resistance we have heard from Ireland to corporate regulation has not been that we do not want to regulate business but it has been these other arguments. More information on that would be good because if there is another concern, and if it is because of companies residing in Ireland, that would be useful to know. Ms Lawlor’s research is the first to examine in a more systematic manner the extent to which businesses are incorporating human rights into their activities. We need further research and, ultimately, we need to take a systematic approach to this.

The national implementation group on business and human rights is a space which, hopefully, will become more active. We need legislation on human rights and environmental due diligence to be developed. We also need Ireland to take a very obvious lead on the treaty. Ireland could have a niche and a space in relation to gender and civil society space. It is known on the UN Human Rights Council as a champion of civil society space. Civil society and human rights defenders are calling for this treaty, so it is a very obvious space in which Ireland could operate. I hope I have answered the questions.